Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Receives $165.92 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $163.55.

HES has been the topic of a number of research reports. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HES. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $418,291,000 after acquiring an additional 726,631 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Hess by 76.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Hess by 64.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Hess by 45.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Sculptor Capital LP lifted its holdings in Hess by 188.7% during the second quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 765,542 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $112,933,000 after purchasing an additional 500,342 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE HES opened at $139.41 on Tuesday. Hess has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $167.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $135.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $145.48.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.14. The company 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%. The business’s revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hess will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.63%.

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.