Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,180,000 shares, a decline of 9.6% from the November 30th total of 5,730,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,620,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.
Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a report on Saturday. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.50.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Hess
HES stock traded up $2.30 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $133.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,478,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,049,343. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $139.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $40.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 1.17. Hess has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98.
Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Hess will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Hess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.31%.
In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total value of $12,890,115.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company's stock.
A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Hess by 3.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 326,921 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $44,396,000 after acquiring an additional 10,738 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Hess by 330.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 262,316 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $35,623,000 after purchasing an additional 201,349 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at about $23,765,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Hess by 20.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,213,574 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $169,767,000 after buying an additional 208,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Hess by 4.0% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,830 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,693,000 after buying an additional 757 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company's stock.
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.
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