Hess (NYSE:HES) Given New $146.58 Price Target at Scotiabank

Hess (NYSE:HES) had its price objective lowered by research analysts at Scotiabank from $164.00 to $146.58 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 14.14% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.56.

Hess Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $128.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $39.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 0.88. Hess has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $146.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total value of $27,877,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hess

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HES. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Hess by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 39,361 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,346,000 after buying an additional 8,174 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.5% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,098 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Hess in the third quarter worth $454,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Hess by 43.0% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 191,453 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,999,000 after acquiring an additional 57,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in Hess by 1,584.8% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 7,413 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 6,973 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Hess

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.