Brokerages Set Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Target Price at $164.46

Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $164.46.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HES. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 9.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 56.7% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,115,613 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $178,197,000 after purchasing an additional 403,792 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Hess by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,934,751 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $309,038,000 after acquiring an additional 96,672 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Hess by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,991 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Hess by 31.8% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 468 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hess by 5.2% during the first 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 in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE HES opened at $132.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $40.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.61. Hess has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $161.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.41.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.14). Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hess will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.66%.

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.