Hess (NYSE:HES) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a report released on Monday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.30.

Hess Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $145.64 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26. Hess has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The company has a market cap of $44.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.97 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $136.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.87.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Hess will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total value of $12,890,115.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. This represents a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 39.7% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 13,955 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,130,000 after acquiring an additional 3,968 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Hess by 300.4% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 9,986 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,524,000 after buying an additional 7,492 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the 1st quarter valued at $933,000. Carlson Capital L P lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Carlson Capital L P now owns 633,767 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $96,738,000 after acquiring an additional 85,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anson Funds Management LP grew its position in Hess by 337.0% in the first quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 24,318 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,712,000 after acquiring an additional 34,580 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.