Analysts Set Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Target Price at $171.31

Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $171.31.

HES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho cut their target price on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Hess to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $175.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

Hess Price Performance

HES opened at $135.61 on Friday. Hess has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $167.75. The firm has a market cap of $41.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.90.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The company’s revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Hess will post 11.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.63%.

Institutional Trading of Hess

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Hess during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hess in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Hess in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 47.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Hess

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.