Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $164.00.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HES. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Hess during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess by 47.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES opened at $139.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.01 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38 and a beta of 1.15. Hess has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $166.50.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Hess will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Hess’s payout ratio is 30.63%.

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.