Analysts Set Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) PT at $164.50

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $166.30.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HES. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $141.53 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.67. Hess has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The firm has a market cap of $43.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. Hess’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hess will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.31%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total transaction of $18,385,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 217,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,047,849.52. The trade was a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hess

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Hess by 330.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 262,316 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $35,623,000 after acquiring an additional 201,349 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter worth about $23,765,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Hess by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,213,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $169,767,000 after purchasing an additional 208,996 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Hess by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,830 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,693,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $232,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.