Brokerages Set Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Price Target at $164.50

Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $170.50.

A number of research firms have commented on HES. Citigroup lifted their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total value of $18,385,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,047,849.52. This represents a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hess

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HES. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 1st quarter valued at about $275,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Hess by 424.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,466 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,971,000 after acquiring an additional 15,757 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in Hess by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 4,415 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Hess by 47.6% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in Hess by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $142.90 on Wednesday. Hess has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $44.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $141.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.62.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Hess will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

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.