Hess (NYSE:HES) Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to Overweight Rating

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $193.00 price objective on the oil and gas producer’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $151.00.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Hess Trading Up 0.7 %

Hess stock opened at $142.52 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $43.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 1.17. Hess has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $141.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.62. 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 (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Hess will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Hess’s payout ratio is 23.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total transaction of $18,385,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,047,849.52. This trade represents a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 in the last three months. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HES. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Hess by 58.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $509,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391,311 shares during the last quarter. HBK Investments L P lifted its position in shares of Hess by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $966,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,720 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Hess by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $450,696,000 after purchasing an additional 785,270 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Hess by 34.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $418,291,000 after buying an additional 726,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Hess by 76.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,532,132 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $227,273,000 after buying an additional 663,338 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.