Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES)’s stock price has plunge by -0.11relation to previous closing price of 130.16. Nevertheless, the company has seen a -3.74% plunge in its stock price over the last five trading sessions. reuters.com reported 2025-05-19 that U.S. shale producer Continental Resources has filed a lawsuit against Hess Corp alleging that it was defrauded out of up to $69 million through a series of deals the well operator conducted with its subsidiaries.
Is It Worth Investing in Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) Right Now?
Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) has a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01x that is above its average ratio. Additionally, the 36-month beta value for HES is 0.63. There are mixed opinions on the stock, with 5 analysts rating it as a “buy,” 3 rating it as “overweight,” 7 rating it as “hold,” and 1 rating it as “sell.”
The public float for HES is 287.14M and currently, short sellers hold a 3.02% ratio of that float. The average trading volume of HES on May 23, 2025 was 1.95M shares.
HES’s Market Performance
HES’s stock has seen a -3.74% decrease for the week, with a -0.01% drop in the past month and a -12.21% fall in the past quarter. The volatility ratio for the week is 0.71%, and the volatility levels for the past 30 days are at 1.33% for Hess Corporation The simple moving average for the past 20 days is -1.52% for HES’s stock, with a -6.76% simple moving average for the past 200 days.
Analysts’ Opinion of HES
Many brokerage firms have already submitted their reports for HES stocks, with Wells Fargo repeating the rating for HES by listing it as a “Overweight.” The predicted price for HES in the upcoming period, according to Wells Fargo is $193 based on the research report published on December 09, 2024 of the previous year 2024.
Wolfe Research, on the other hand, stated in their research note that they expect to see HES reach a price target of $150. The rating they have provided for HES stocks is “Outperform” according to the report published on September 30th, 2024.
HES Trading at -6.43% from the 50-Day Moving Average
After a stumble in the market that brought HES to its low price for the period of the last 52 weeks, the company was unable to rebound, for now settling with -19.59% of loss for the given period.
Volatility was left at 1.33%, however, over the last 30 days, the volatility rate increased by 0.71%, as shares sank -1.78% for the moving average over the last 20 days. Over the last 50 days, in opposition, the stock is trading -9.73% lower at present.
During the last 5 trading sessions, HES fell by -3.74%, which changed the moving average for the period of 200-days by -1.83% in comparison to the 20-day moving average, which settled at $132.03. In addition, Hess Corporation saw -2.25% in overturn over a single year, with a tendency to cut further losses.
Insider Trading
Reports are indicating that there were more than several insider trading activities at HES starting from HESS JOHN B, who sale 175,000 shares at the price of $159.30 back on Mar 27 ’25. After this action, HESS JOHN B now owns 2,384,679 shares of Hess Corporation, valued at $27,877,219 using the latest closing price.
HESS JOHN B, the Chief Executive Officer of Hess Corporation, sale 175,000 shares at $158.49 during a trade that took place back on Mar 28 ’25, which means that HESS JOHN B is holding 2,209,679 shares at $27,735,320 based on the most recent closing price.
Stock Fundamentals for HES
Current profitability levels for the company are sitting at:
- 0.38 for the present operating margin
- 0.6 for the gross margin
The net margin for Hess Corporation stands at 0.18. The total capital return value is set at 0.2. Equity return is now at value 20.82, with 8.59 for asset returns.
Based on Hess Corporation (HES), the company’s capital structure generated 0.45 points at debt to capital in total, while cash flow to debt ratio is standing at 0.64. The debt to equity ratio resting at 0.82. The interest coverage ratio of the stock is 12.19.
Currently, EBITDA for the company is 7.25 billion with net debt to EBITDA at 1.24. When we switch over and look at the enterprise to sales, we see a ratio of 3.88. The receivables turnover for the company is 10.85for trailing twelve months and the total asset turnover is 0.46. The liquidity ratio also appears to be rather interesting for investors as it stands at 1.08.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Hess Corporation (HES) has seen bad performance in recent times. Analysts have a mixed opinion on the stock, with some rating it as a “buy” and others rating it as a “hold”. It’s important to note that the stock is currently trading at a significant distance from its 50-day moving average and its 52-week high.
