Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Hess (NYSE:HES) to “Overweight”

Hess (NYSE:HES) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $193.00 target price on the oil and gas producer’s stock, up from their previous target price of $151.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 35.06% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on HES. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Hess Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:HES opened at $142.90 on Monday. Hess has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $141.53 and a 200 day moving average of $141.62. The firm has a market cap of $44.03 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hess will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Hess

In related news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 in the last three months. 9.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hess

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HES. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hess by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 4,415 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Hess by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,643 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hess by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,867 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in Hess by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,884 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc increased its holdings in Hess by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 39,278 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,813,000 after buying an additional 1,822 shares during the period. 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.