Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $170.60.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HES. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hess

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $152.81 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $145.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $140.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $47.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98 and a beta of 1.21. Hess has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. Equities analysts anticipate that Hess will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.22%.

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.