Hess (NYSE:HES) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

Analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a research note issued on Friday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on HES. 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 research report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES opened at $127.66 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $140.94. Hess has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The company has a market cap of $39.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. Hess’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Hess will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hess by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 326,921 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,396,000 after purchasing an additional 10,738 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 330.3% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 262,316 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $35,623,000 after buying an additional 201,349 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $23,765,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hess by 20.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,213,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $169,767,000 after acquiring an additional 208,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Hess by 4.0% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,830 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,693,000 after acquiring an additional 757 shares during the period. 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.