Hess (HES) Projected to Post Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) is expected to release its earnings data before the market opens on Wednesday, January 29th. Analysts expect Hess to post earnings of $1.44 per share and revenue of $2,833,120.00 billion for the quarter.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect Hess to post $9 EPS for the current fiscal year and $7 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Hess Stock Performance

Hess stock traded down $3.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $145.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,795,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,118,881. Hess has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $141.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.47. The company has a market cap of $44.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95 and a beta of 1.18.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess's payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total value of $13,729,733.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,914,927. This represents a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 in the last ninety days. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HES has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hess presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.50.

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.