Hess (NYSE:HES) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $193.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock, up from their previous price target of $151.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on HES. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Hess Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE HES opened at $142.52 on Monday. Hess has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $43.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.62.

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

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.31%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total transaction of $13,729,733.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,914,927. The trade was a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309 over the last 90 days. 9.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HES. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 23.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 4,415 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,643 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $833,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $570,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Hess by 10.7% during 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 lifted its holdings in Hess by 4.9% during the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 39,278 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.