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

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a research note published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.00.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $139.42 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.30. The company has a market capitalization of $42.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35 and a beta of 1.15. Hess has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $167.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

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

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hess

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HES. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the first quarter valued at $36,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Hess by 47.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 1st quarter worth about $52,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hess Company Profile

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.