Hess (NYSE:HES) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $193.00 target price on the oil and gas producer’s stock, up from their prior target price of $151.00.

HES has been the topic of a number of other reports. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research raised Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.50.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $142.38 on Monday. Hess has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.56. The stock has a market cap of $43.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59 and a beta of 1.17.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. Hess’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hess will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.31%.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total value of $18,385,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 217,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,047,849.52. This trade represents a 36.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hess by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 4,415 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Hess by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,643 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $833,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Hess by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,867 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $570,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Hess by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,884 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $725,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc boosted its position in Hess by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 39,278 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

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.