Brokerages Set Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) Target Price at $163.16

Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $163.16.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HES shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Hess from $151.00 to $147.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. 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 report on Friday, April 11th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Hess from $163.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $34,002,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,734,679 shares in the company, valued at $235,933,690.79. This trade represents a 12.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 650,000 shares of company stock worth $91,845,500 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HES. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $5,570,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732,497 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Hess by 16,134.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,546,506 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,470,230,000 after buying an additional 1,536,980 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the first quarter worth $196,457,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Hess by 94.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,043,488 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $326,408,000 after acquiring an additional 992,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Hess by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $389,787,000 after purchasing an additional 927,093 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES stock traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $138.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,329,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,788,671. The firm has a market cap of $42.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13 and a beta of 0.62. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $134.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Hess has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $161.69.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.14). Hess had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.16 EPS. Hess's revenue for the quarter was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Hess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.66%.

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.