Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) – Equities researchers at Capital One Financial Corp. upped their FY2016 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Hess Corp. in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, according to Zacks Investment Research. Capital One Financial Corp. analyst P. Johnston now anticipates that the firm will post earnings of ($5.68) per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of ($5.98). The consensus estimate for Hess Corp.’s FY2016 earnings is ($5.73) per share. Capital One Financial Corp. also issued estimates for Hess Corp.’s FY2017 earnings at ($4.03) EPS.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Hess Corp. from $75.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Credit Agricole started coverage on shares of Hess Corp. in a research report on Tuesday, December 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. CLSA restated a “buy” rating on shares of Hess Corp. in a research report on Tuesday, December 15th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Hess Corp. in a research report on Tuesday, January 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Hess Corp. from $65.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.63.

Shares of Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) traded down 5.48% during trading on Monday, hitting $39.47. The company had a trading volume of 5,597,792 shares. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $43.90 and its 200 day moving average is $53.96. Hess Corp. has a 52-week low of $32.41 and a 52-week high of $79.00. The firm’s market capitalization is $11.18 billion.

Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 27th. The company reported ($1.40) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.07. The business earned $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. Hess Corp.’s revenue for the quarter was down 45.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Several large investors recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Alpha Windward increased its stake in Hess Corp. by 20,814.3% in the fourth quarter. Alpha Windward now owns 7,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 7,285 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in Hess Corp. by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 57,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,783,000 after buying an additional 5,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Factory Mutual Insurance Company bought a new stake in Hess Corp. during the fourth quarter valued at $6,302,000.

In other news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total value of $540,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 47,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,825,861.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) is an exploration and production (E&P) company that develops, produces, purchases, transports and sells crude oil and natural gas. Its production operations are located primarily in the United States, Denmark, Equatorial Guinea, the Joint Development Area of Malaysia/Thailand, Malaysia and Norway. The Company’s production in the United States was from offshore properties in the Gulf of Mexico and onshore properties in the Bakken oil shale play in the Williston Basin of North Dakota, the Permian Basin of Texas, and the Utica Basin of Ohio. Approximately 16% of the Company’s crude oil and natural gas liquids production and 7% of its natural gas production were from European operations. Approximately 22% of the Company’s crude oil and natural gas liquids production were from its African operations. Approximately 1% of the Company’s crude oil and natural gas liquids production and 61% of its natural gas production were from its Asian and Other operations.

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