Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Receives $177.42 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $177.42.

A number of research firms have commented on HES. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total value of $2,103,184.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $153,480.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,257,071.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total transaction of $2,103,184.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,581 shares in the company, valued at $5,073,417.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 155,798 shares of company stock valued at $22,811,166 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC grew its position in Hess by 2.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 37,239,078 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,697,579,000 after purchasing an additional 889,122 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Hess by 4.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,790,382 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,191,928,000 after purchasing an additional 303,942 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Hess by 44.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,610,484 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $552,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,204 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Hess by 19.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,951,451 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $451,572,000 after purchasing an additional 489,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Hess by 1.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,866,681 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $438,602,000 after purchasing an additional 42,802 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $161.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $49.74 billion, a PE ratio of 35.88 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $151.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.20. Hess has a fifty-two week low of $124.27 and a fifty-two week high of $167.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.20. Hess had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Hess’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th were given a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.89%.

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.