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

Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $177.42.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on HES shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price 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. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday.

Hess Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE HES opened at $161.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.88 and a beta of 1.27. Hess has a 52-week low of $124.27 and a 52-week high of $167.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $151.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.20. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. Hess had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Hess will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 2,701 shares of the 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 $390,348.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 162,144 shares in the company, valued at $23,433,050.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 138,718 shares in the company, valued at $20,234,794.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 2,701 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction of $390,348.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 162,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,433,050.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166 over the last ninety days. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hess

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Hess during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hess during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Hess during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

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.