Brokerages Set Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Target Price at $170.50

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $170.50.

HES has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total transaction of $13,729,733.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 229,465 shares in the company, valued at $33,914,927. This represents a 28.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hess

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Hess by 2.4% in the third quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hess by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Hess by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Hess by 59.8% during 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. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Hess by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hess Price Performance

HES stock opened at $145.12 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.39. Hess has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 1.18.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. Analysts anticipate that Hess will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company 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 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.