Hess (NYSE:HES) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

Stock analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a report issued on Thursday. The brokerage set a “sell” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

HES has been the topic of a number of other reports. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.42.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of Hess stock opened at $159.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $49.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.36 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.10. Hess has a fifty-two week low of $124.27 and a fifty-two week high of $167.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.20. Hess had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Hess will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction of $153,480.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,215 shares in the company, valued at $7,257,071.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction of $153,480.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,215 shares in the company, valued at $7,257,071.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total transaction of $2,103,184.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares in the company, valued at $5,073,417.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in Hess by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 37,239,078 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,697,579,000 after buying an additional 889,122 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Hess by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,790,382 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,191,928,000 after buying an additional 303,942 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Hess by 44.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,610,484 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $552,404,000 after buying an additional 1,105,204 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Hess by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,951,451 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $451,572,000 after buying an additional 489,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Hess by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,866,681 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $438,602,000 after purchasing an additional 42,802 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.