Brokerages Set Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Price Target at $171.31

Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $171.31.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HES. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Hess to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Hess in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the first quarter worth $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Hess by 47.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:HES opened at $134.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Hess has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $167.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.03.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. Hess’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hess will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 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.