Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Short Interest Update

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) saw a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,480,000 shares, an increase of 9.8% from the September 15th total of 4,990,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,660,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HES traded up $2.82 during trading on Thursday, reaching $139.46. The company had a trading volume of 1,663,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,154,905. Hess has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $167.75. The stock has a market cap of $42.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $134.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.52.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Hess had a net margin of 21.22% and a return on equity of 27.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Hess will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 30.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HES. American International Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 88,545 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $12,765,000 after buying an additional 648 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hess by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 73,973 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,664,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter worth $220,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hess by 827.0% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 79,965 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,528,000 after purchasing an additional 90,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the first quarter worth $521,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on HES shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.92.

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.