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

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on HES. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $152.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. One 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $176.67.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $150.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $149.49 and a 200-day moving average of $146.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.30 billion, a PE ratio of 33.39 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Hess has a 12 month low of $124.27 and a 12 month high of $167.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. Hess had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hess will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total value of $2,103,184.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,073,417.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $153,480.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,257,071.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total transaction of $2,103,184.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,073,417.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 155,798 shares of company stock valued at $22,811,166 in the last ninety days. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HES. Raymond James Trust N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the 1st quarter valued at $446,000. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Hess by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Hess by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 114,120 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $12,216,000 after acquiring an additional 4,027 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the 1st quarter valued at $410,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hess by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,928,530 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,310,590,000 after acquiring an additional 667,979 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% 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.