Hess (NYSE:HES) Hits New 1-Year High at $155.70

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES – Get Rating)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $155.70 and last traded at $155.42, with a volume of 3117 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $151.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HES has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 7th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Susquehanna Bancshares raised their price objective on Hess from $144.00 to $166.00 in a report on Thursday, October 27th. Mizuho cut Hess from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $164.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Hess from $159.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.14.

Hess Stock Up 2.0 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $141.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $47.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60 and a beta of 1.55.

Hess (NYSE:HES – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 26th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.01. Hess had a return on equity of 25.57% and a net margin of 17.31%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 7.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 19th were given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other Hess news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 37,419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.21, for a total value of $5,545,869.99. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,346,554.67. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 53,851 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.45, for a total transaction of $7,724,925.95. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 78,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,251,357.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 37,419 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.21, for a total value of $5,545,869.99. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,327 shares in the company, valued at $4,346,554.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hess

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HES. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.7% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 4,176 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 4,320 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.5% in the first quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 5,887 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 14.5% in the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,020 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,272,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 86.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Company Profile

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Hess Corp is an exploration and production company, which engages in exploration, development, production, transportation, purchase & sale of crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas with production operations. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production and Midstream.