Hess (NYSE:HES) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a research note issued to investors on Friday. The firm issued a sell rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Hess from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $189.00 to $166.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $205.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Hess from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $171.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hess currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $173.06.

Hess Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE:HES opened at $144.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Hess has a one year low of $113.82 and a one year high of $167.75. The company has a market cap of $44.38 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84 and a beta of 1.53.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.68 billion. Hess had a net margin of 14.94% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 27.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hess will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other news, SVP Barbara J. Lowery-Yilmaz sold 24,319 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.91, for a total value of $3,815,894.29. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 113,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,835,959.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 9.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hess

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HES. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. IMA Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 81.72% of the company’s stock.

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.