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. Gulf of Mexico, and offshore Suriname and Canada. The company is also involved in gathering, compressing, and processing natural gas; fractionating NGLs; gathering, terminaling, loading, and transporting crude oil and NGL through rail car; and storing and terminaling propane, as well as providing water handling services primarily in the Bakken Shale plays in the Williston Basin area of North Dakota. As of December 31, 2021, it had total proved reserves of 1,309 million barrels of oil equivalent. The company was incorporated in 1920 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Hess from $158.00 to $143.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 19th. Susquehanna Bancshares upped their price target on shares of Hess from $118.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Monday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Hess from $141.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 19th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Hess from $112.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Hess from $180.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $133.92.
Hess Price Performance
Hess stock traded up $3.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $102.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,539,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,853,222. The company has a market capitalization of $32.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.85 and a beta of 1.61. Hess has a 12-month low of $61.93 and a 12-month high of $131.43. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $109.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.31.
Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 27th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.60 billion. Hess had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 20.25%. Hess's quarterly revenue was up 87.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hess will post 9.41 EPS for the current year.
Hess Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 15th were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 14th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Hess's payout ratio is 31.85%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Hess
In other Hess news, SVP Barbara J. Lowery-Yilmaz sold 36,260 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.29, for a total value of $4,651,795.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 95,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,267,602.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 9.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.