Capital One Financial Predicts Lower Earnings for Hess

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) – Research analysts at Capital One Financial lowered their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of Hess in a report released on Wednesday, January 8th. Capital One Financial analyst P. Johnston now expects that the oil and gas producer will post earnings of $8.78 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $8.84. The consensus estimate for Hess’ current full-year earnings is $9.74 per share.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on HES. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $142.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $139.95 and its 200 day moving average is $139.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26. Hess has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HES. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Hess by 59.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hess during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Hess during the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 157.2% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total value of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

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.