Hess (NYSE:HES) Price Target Raised to $173.00 at Piper Sandler

Hess (NYSE:HES) had its target price raised by Piper Sandler from $172.00 to $173.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a report on Wednesday. They set a sell rating for the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Hess from $152.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $176.75.

Hess Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $151.78 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $46.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.73 and a beta of 1.27. Hess has a fifty-two week low of $124.27 and a fifty-two week high of $167.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $149.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.79.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 12.98%. Hess’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hess will post 8.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.89%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total value of $10,777,604.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,718 shares in the company, valued at $20,234,794.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Hess news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $153,480.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,215 shares in the company, valued at $7,257,071.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total value of $10,777,604.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 138,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,234,794.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Arvest Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at $1,407,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Hess by 1,456.8% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 7,504 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after acquiring an additional 7,022 shares during the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at $967,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its position in shares of Hess by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 39,249 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 16,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Hess by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 564,454 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $86,361,000 after acquiring an additional 45,246 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.