Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $171.31.

HES has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Hess in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday.

Hess Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE HES opened at $133.50 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $138.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.08. Hess has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $167.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $41.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hess will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s payout ratio is 30.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in shares of Hess by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 123,339 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $17,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Hess by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 100,330 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,464,000 after purchasing an additional 12,649 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Hess by 59.9% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,823 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,087,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 774.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 522,707 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,351,000 after purchasing an additional 462,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, K2 Principal Fund L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the fourth quarter worth about $2,616,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.