Brokerages Set Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) PT at $163.16

Shares of Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $162.26.

HES has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $163.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $34,002,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,734,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,933,690.79. This trade represents a 12.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hess

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HES. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hess by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Hess by 8.4% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,019 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 0.4% in the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 19,073 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,047,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of HES stock opened at $140.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Hess has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $161.69. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $134.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.95. The company has a market capitalization of $43.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38 and a beta of 0.62.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.14). Hess had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 17.65%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Hess will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 27.66%.

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.