Piper Sandler Cuts Hess (NYSE:HES) Price Target to $147.00

Hess (NYSE:HES) had its price objective trimmed by Piper Sandler from $151.00 to $147.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on HES. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.16.

Hess Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of HES stock opened at $134.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $139.44 and a 200-day moving average of $141.33. The stock has a market cap of $41.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 0.61. Hess has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $161.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted 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 business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hess will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 27.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

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

Institutional Trading of Hess

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $5,570,383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732,497 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 11,438,985 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,521,499,000 after purchasing an additional 698,866 shares during the period. HBK Investments L P boosted its position in shares of Hess by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,355,900 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,174,958,000 after purchasing an additional 117,989 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,695,533 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $888,240,000 after purchasing an additional 158,371 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Hess by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,844,257 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $511,325,000 after purchasing an additional 91,131 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.