Hess (NYSE:HES) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on HES. UBS Group raised their price objective on Hess from $163.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Hess from $151.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.16.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $141.71 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $132.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.04. Hess has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $161.69. The stock has a market cap of $43.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Hess’s payout ratio is 27.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $34,002,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,734,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,933,690.79. This represents a 12.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 650,000 shares of company stock valued at $91,845,500. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in Hess in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Hess in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its position in Hess by 106.2% in the first quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC increased its position in Hess by 367.4% in the first quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 201 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 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.