Hess (NYSE:HES) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a research note published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a peer perform rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on HES. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Hess from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $178.67.

Hess Stock Performance

HES opened at $152.61 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $149.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.31. Hess has a 1-year low of $131.61 and a 1-year high of $167.75. The company has a market cap of $47.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37 and a beta of 1.16.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $3.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $1.43. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. Hess had a net margin of 17.41% and a return on equity of 22.73%. The business’s revenue was up 36.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Hess will post 10.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Hess by 105.4% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,288 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,174 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hess by 38.2% during the second quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 7,232 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Western Financial Corp CA boosted its position in Hess by 8.9% during the second quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 4,761 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Hess by 1.6% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 49,162 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,252,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hess by 0.3% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 669,137 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $98,711,000 after acquiring an additional 2,231 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.