Scotiabank Weighs in on Hess’ FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:HES)

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) – Equities researchers at Scotiabank issued their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Hess in a report released on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank analyst P. Cheng anticipates that the oil and gas producer will earn $10.05 per share for the year. Scotiabank currently has a “Sector Perform” rating and a $167.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Hess’ current full-year earnings is $9.74 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for Hess’ FY2025 earnings at $7.65 EPS.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $142.52 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $139.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.44. 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. The company has a market cap of $43.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 1.18.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Hess by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 6.6% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Hess by 59.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess by 6.3% in the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 451 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 217,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,047,849.52. This represents a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

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.