Hess (NYSE:HES) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday. The firm issued a sell rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on HES. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $152.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $176.67.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES opened at $150.80 on Wednesday. Hess has a twelve month low of $124.27 and a twelve month high of $167.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Hess will post 7.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 38.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total transaction of $10,777,604.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,234,794.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 56,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total value of $8,330,973.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 78,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,457,302.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total transaction of $10,777,604.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 138,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,234,794.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 155,798 shares of company stock valued at $22,811,166. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hess

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

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.