Hess (NYSE:HES) PT Lowered to $194.00 at Mizuho

Hess (NYSE:HES) had its price objective lowered by Mizuho from $210.00 to $194.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on HES. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hess from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and raised their price target for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Hess from $193.00 to $192.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $171.31.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES opened at $131.39 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.27. Hess has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $167.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Hess will post 11.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 30.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hess

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Hess by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,126,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,903,793,000 after acquiring an additional 294,146 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in Hess by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 8,098,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,194,619,000 after acquiring an additional 340,490 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Hess by 34.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $418,291,000 after acquiring an additional 726,631 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Hess by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,451,807 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $361,691,000 after acquiring an additional 150,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Hess by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,798,788 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $265,359,000 after acquiring an additional 181,459 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently 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.