Morgan Stanley Boosts Hess (HES) Price Target to $57.00

Hess (NYSE:HES) had its price target boosted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $49.00 to $57.00 in a report released on Wednesday. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 6.17% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets set a $45.00 price objective on Hess and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Hess from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. Scotiabank set a $52.00 price objective on Hess and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Credit Suisse Group started coverage on Hess in a research note on Monday, December 11th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Hess from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Hess currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.40.

Shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $53.69. 2,171,560 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,470,000. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $17,070.00, a P/E ratio of -2.66 and a beta of 1.77. Hess has a 52 week low of $37.25 and a 52 week high of $55.96.

In other news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 7,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.62, for a total transaction of $330,188.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.80% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hess by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,787,281 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $868,068,000 after buying an additional 449,097 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Hess by 1.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,518,364 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $680,786,000 after buying an additional 198,888 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hess by 13.9% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 9,206,402 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $431,688,000 after buying an additional 1,123,000 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Hess by 1.8% during the second quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,811,400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $298,816,000 after buying an additional 119,241 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Hess by 13.0% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,213,975 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $244,483,000 after buying an additional 598,576 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.47% of the company’s stock.

WARNING: “Morgan Stanley Boosts Hess (HES) Price Target to $57.00” was originally published by American Banking and Market News and is the property of of American Banking and Market News. If you are reading this report on another website, it was stolen and republished in violation of U.S. & international trademark & copyright law. The legal version of this report can be accessed at https://www.americanbankingnews.com/2018/01/28/morgan-stanley-boosts-hess-hes-price-target-to-57-00.html.

About Hess

Hess Corporation is an exploration and production company. The Company is engaged in exploration, development, production, transportation, purchase and sale of crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGL) and natural gas. The Company’s segments include Exploration and Production, and Bakken Midstream. Its Exploration and Production segment explores for, develops, produces, purchases and sells crude oil, NGLs and natural gas with production operations primarily in the United States, Denmark, the Malaysia/Thailand Joint Development Area (JDA), Malaysia and Norway.

Analyst Recommendations for Hess (NYSE:HES)