Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $170.60.

HES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aurdan Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at about $347,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Hess by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 40,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,356,000 after buying an additional 11,069 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,727,000. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hess in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,330,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in Hess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $207,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE HES opened at $147.96 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $45.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $141.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.23.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hess will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

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.