Hess (HES) to Release Earnings on Wednesday

Hess (NYSE:HES) is projected to post its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Wednesday, January 29th. Analysts expect Hess to post earnings of $1.44 per share and revenue of $2,833,120.00 billion for the quarter.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Hess to post $9 EPS for the current fiscal year and $7 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $148.51 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 1.18. Hess has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total transaction of $13,729,733.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,914,927. This trade represents a 28.82 % 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 quarter. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on HES shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank lifted 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

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.