Hess (NYSE:HES) Price Target Raised to $173.00 at Piper Sandler

Hess (NYSE:HES) had its price objective upped by Piper Sandler from $172.00 to $173.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on HES. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a sell rating for the company. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Hess from $152.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $176.75.

Hess Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE HES opened at $151.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.79. Hess has a twelve month low of $124.27 and a twelve month high of $167.75. The stock has a market cap of $46.76 billion, a PE ratio of 33.73 and a beta of 1.27.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. Hess had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Hess will post 8.09 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s payout ratio is 38.89%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total transaction of $10,777,604.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 138,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,234,794.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total value of $10,777,604.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 138,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,234,794.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction of $153,480.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,257,071.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 155,798 shares of company stock valued at $22,811,166. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hess

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hess in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Hess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Hess in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.