Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Receives $162.16 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $162.16.

A number of equities analysts have commented on HES shares. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Hess from $151.00 to $147.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $379,879,364.70. This represents a 6.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Hess by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,873,741 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $5,570,383,000 after buying an additional 1,732,497 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in Hess by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 11,438,985 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,521,499,000 after purchasing an additional 698,866 shares in the last quarter. HBK Investments L P raised its holdings in Hess by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,355,900 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,174,958,000 after purchasing an additional 117,989 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Hess by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,695,533 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $888,240,000 after purchasing an additional 158,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Hess by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,844,257 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $511,325,000 after purchasing an additional 91,131 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Hess Price Performance

Hess stock traded down $1.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $132.32. 3,570,806 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,791,178. The company's fifty day moving average is $135.08 and its 200-day moving average is $140.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $40.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 0.61. Hess has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $161.69.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.14). Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. The business's revenue was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hess will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Hess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.66%.

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.