Hess (NYSE:HES) Price Target Lowered to $191.00 at Mizuho

Hess (NYSE:HES) had its target price decreased by analysts at Mizuho from $193.00 to $191.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 40.74% from the stock’s current price.

HES has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.16.

Hess Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Hess stock traded up $0.50 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $135.71. 111,748 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,812,414. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $140.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.44. Hess has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $161.69.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. The firm’s revenue was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hess will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HES. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hess by 5.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,873,741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,570,383,000 after buying an additional 1,732,497 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Hess by 16,134.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,546,506 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,470,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,980 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Hess during the first quarter worth approximately $196,457,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Hess by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $389,787,000 after acquiring an additional 927,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Symmetry Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 154.1% in the 4th quarter. Symmetry Investments LP now owns 1,381,076 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $183,697,000 after purchasing an additional 837,662 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.