Brokerages Set Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) PT at $170.60

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $170.60.

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Monday, March 10th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Institutional Trading of Hess

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HES. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 134.6% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 10,367.3% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 16,643 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,260,000 after purchasing an additional 16,484 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 59.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 324.2% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Hess during the 3rd quarter worth $496,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $148.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $45.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 1.21. Hess has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $145.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. Analysts predict that Hess will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

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.