Analysts Set Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Price Target at $177.83

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $177.83.

Several analysts have commented on HES shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th.

Hess Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of HES opened at $143.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.28. Hess has a 1-year low of $129.12 and a 1-year high of $167.75. The stock has a market cap of $44.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97 and a beta of 1.19.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $3.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $1.43. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.98 billion. Hess had a net margin of 17.41% and a return on equity of 22.73%. Hess’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Hess will post 9.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.80%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total value of $2,103,184.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HES. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in Hess by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 319 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Hess by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 24,233 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,708,000 after purchasing an additional 8,283 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hess by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 35,649 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,447,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of Hess by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,556 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $850,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 501,118 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $76,671,000 after buying an additional 18,341 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

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.