Mizuho Trims Hess (NYSE:HES) Target Price to $194.00

Hess (NYSE:HES) had its price objective decreased by Mizuho from $210.00 to $194.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Mizuho’s target price suggests a potential upside of 49.92% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on HES. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded Hess to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.77.

Hess Stock Performance

Hess stock traded up $1.33 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $129.40. 127,722 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,227,520. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.87 billion, a PE ratio of 19.89 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.53. Hess has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $167.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Hess had a net margin of 21.22% and a return on equity of 27.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hess will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hess by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,126,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,903,793,000 after purchasing an additional 294,146 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in Hess by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 8,098,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,194,619,000 after buying an additional 340,490 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Hess by 34.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $418,291,000 after acquiring an additional 726,631 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,451,807 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $361,691,000 after acquiring an additional 150,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Hess by 11.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,798,788 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $265,359,000 after acquiring an additional 181,459 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.