Hess (HES) Projected to Post Earnings on Wednesday

Hess (NYSE:HES) is projected to announce its earnings results before the market opens on Wednesday, January 29th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $1.44 per share and revenue of $2,833,120.00 billion for the quarter.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. Hess’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Hess to post $10 EPS for the current fiscal year and $8 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $146.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.43. The company has a market cap of $45.01 billion, a PE ratio of 17.03 and a beta of 1.18. Hess has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total value of $13,729,733.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,914,927. This represents a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309 over the last quarter. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HES. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Hess Company Profile

Hess Corporation, an exploration and production company, explores, develops, produces, purchases, transports, and sells crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. The company operates in two segments, Exploration and Production, and Midstream. It conducts production operations primarily in the United States, Guyana, the Malaysia/Thailand Joint Development Area, and Malaysia; and exploration activities principally offshore Guyana, the U.S.