Hess (NYSE:HES) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a research report released on Wednesday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

HES has been the subject of several other reports. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Hess from $152.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Hess from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $176.67.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES opened at $150.80 on Wednesday. Hess has a one year low of $124.27 and a one year high of $167.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $149.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.76. The stock has a market cap of $46.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. Hess had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hess will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 38.89%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total value of $2,103,184.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 4,708 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $680,400.16. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 125,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,161,828.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total transaction of $2,103,184.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,073,417.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 155,798 shares of company stock valued at $22,811,166 over the last 90 days. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in Hess by 2.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 37,239,078 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,697,579,000 after acquiring an additional 889,122 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Hess by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,832,380 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,588,956,000 after acquiring an additional 322,773 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Hess by 4.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,790,382 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,191,928,000 after acquiring an additional 303,942 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hess by 1.7% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,728,515 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $756,386,000 after acquiring an additional 93,731 shares during the period. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its position in Hess by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 4,752,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $675,191,000 after acquiring an additional 29,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

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.