Hess (NYSE:HES) Price Target Cut to $194.00

Hess (NYSE:HES) had its price target reduced by Mizuho from $210.00 to $194.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on HES. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hess from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut Hess to an overweight rating and lowered their price target for the company from $175.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $171.31.

Hess Stock Performance

HES opened at $133.50 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $41.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Hess has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $167.75. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.08.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. Hess’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hess will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 30.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hess

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd bought a new stake in Hess in the fourth quarter valued at about $110,423,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Hess by 34.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $418,291,000 after purchasing an additional 726,631 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Hess by 76.4% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,532,132 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $227,273,000 after purchasing an additional 663,338 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Hess by 64.3% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,449,969 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $218,220,000 after purchasing an additional 567,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Hess by 45.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,794,087 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $264,664,000 after purchasing an additional 561,832 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

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.