Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $170.60.

HES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $130.35 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. 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 $148.05 and a 200-day moving average of $142.80.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hess will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total value of $27,877,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hess

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Hess in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,117,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,274,000. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Hess by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 59,927 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,971,000 after purchasing an additional 3,625 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Hess by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,838,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $244,483,000 after purchasing an additional 82,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Hess by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 43,085 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,731,000 after buying an additional 1,861 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.