Brokerages Set Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Price Target at $177.42

Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $177.42.

HES has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total value of $10,777,604.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,234,794.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO John P. Rielly sold 2,596 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $375,173.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,200 shares in the company, valued at $48,443,104. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total transaction of $10,777,604.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 138,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,234,794.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166 in the last 90 days. 9.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hess in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE HES opened at $163.13 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Hess has a 1-year low of $124.27 and a 1-year high of $167.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.21. The company has a market capitalization of $50.26 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 1.27.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $3.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $1.43. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 22.73% and a net margin of 17.41%. The business’s revenue was up 36.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 26.80%.

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.