AOL Money & Finance

hess posts

Feed

You can look at gas prices and lament, or you can own Hess

As prices at the gas pump begin their later-if-not-sooner return to the stratosphere, you can sit there and lament, or you can own Hess (NYSE: HES).

Hess is an integrated oil and gas company with proved reserves totaling 1.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Hess also sells gasoline through about 1,400 gas stations, primarily in the eastern U.S.

Continue reading You can look at gas prices and lament, or you can own Hess

Institutional toe dipping with HES, RIMM and VMW

This post was written by Minyanville contributor Jeffrey Cooper.

Institutions may not be chasing stock but there certainly seems to be a bid for select names when they gaped lower this week.

Names on my radar that have seen opening prices scooped up include Hess (NYSE: HES) and Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) and VMWare (NYSE: VMW) this morning.

Often times institutions will sell 10,000 shares or so when they want to buy 500,000 to test the waters. They are complacent and feel they have time to accumulate, than there is no rush. When this 'complacency' as to buying reverses course it will show up in a more persistent steadier rally phase -- a change in character in the advance when it comes.

In other words, often times institutions will sell a small block of 10,000 shares when they actually want to buy size in order to bring the price down; i.e., bang 'em to buy 'em. They bang em to bring the price down to a more attractive level to keep momentum players away in order to actually buy quantity at a preferred level. Once we observe that they do not take the time to do this (which shows up in backing and filling action) it will show up in more sustained buying pressure and equate with a lack of buyside complacency.

The week in preview: Focus on oil and energy

While other earnings may have disappointed last week, the news was good for oil giant ConocoPhilips (NYSE: COP). In what some took as a good sign for big oil, the Houston-based company reported that third quarter net income surged 41% year over year to $3.39 per share, and that revenue also surged 52% to $70 billion. We'll see whether the good news extends to other petroleum giants scheduled to report quarterly results this week.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are looking for BP (NYSE: BP) profits to have grown 43.2% in the most recent quarter to $2.34 per share on revenue of $109.7 billion, and Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) to post earnings up 39.4% to $3.25 per share on revenue of $86.8 billion. Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO), ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) likewise are expected to report higher net income of $2.33 per share (sales of $23.4 billion), $2.40 per share (sales of $131.4 billion), and $2.65 per share, respectively. Even Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) is expected to post earnings slightly higher to $1.46 per share (sales of $36.4 billion), despite the effects of Hurricane Ike. Among these companies, only BP and Valero beat earnings expectations in the previous quarter. Not surprisingly, analysts on average recommend buying all except Valero, and shares of all of these companies have recently hit 52-week lows.

Continue reading The week in preview: Focus on oil and energy

The week in preview: High expectations for oil and energy

So the earnings crunch continues, and here's a look at some companies scheduled to report results this week that are anticipated to be big winners and losers in terms of earnings growth.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expect the following to report strong earnings growth when compared to the same period of the previous year.

Clearly expectations are high for oil and energy. Other companies expected to report double-digit earnings growth include Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS), NYSE Euronext Inc. (NYSE: NYX), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), and Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET).

Continue reading The week in preview: High expectations for oil and energy

Analyst upgrades: CRBC, HES, STEL, PFBC, AG, SLM and SAFM

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Citizens Republic Bancorp, Hess Corp and Sanderson Farms were today's noteworthy upgrades:
  • Keefe Bruyette upgraded shares of Citizens Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ: CRBC) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation following yesterday's sell-off, which they attribute in part to its removal from the Dow Jones Select Dividend Index. Shares were also raised to OUtperform from Perform at Oppenheimer following the sell-off.
  • Goldman upgraded Hess (NYSE: HES) to Buy from Neutral citing the company's leverage to higher oil prices. The firm said oil is likely to hit $150-$200/bbl in the next 6-24 months.
  • Stephens upgraded shares of Sanderson Farms (NASDAQ: SAFM) to Overweight from Equal Weight as they expect industry fundamentals to improve in FY09.
OTHER UPGRADES:
  • Baird raised Stellent (NASDAQ: STEL) to OUtperform from Neutral.
  • Friedman Billings upgraded Preferred Bank (NASDAQ: PFBC) to Market Perform from Underperform.
  • Agco (NYSE: AG) was upgraded at Goldman to Buy from Neutral.
  • Lehman upgraded SLM Corp (NYSE: SLM) to Overweight from Equal Weight.

Analyst initiations: AAPL, DELL, IBM, XOM, GRMN ...

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Garmin, Thomson Reuters and Heritage-Crystal Clean were today's noteworthy initiations:
  • Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) was initiated with a Neutral rating at JP Morgan. The firm sees risk to 2008 Street estimates given the consumer slowdown in the U.S. and potential ASP and margin pressure as channel inventory is worked down.
  • Morgan Stanley assumed Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ: TRIN) with an Underweight rating and expects revenue growth in the company's financial business to slow sharply into 2009.
  • William Blair believes Heritage-Crystal Clean (NASDAQ: HCCI) has the opportunity to gain market share over the next several years as a result of its differentiated parts-cleaning programs, strong sales organization, and experienced management team. Shares were assumed with an Outperform rating.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
  • Lehman initiated Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) and Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) with Equal Weight ratings and targets of $20 and $17 and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), IBM Corp (NYSE: IBM) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) with Overweight ratings and targets of $195, $144 and $59, respectively.
  • Pacific Growth started Spectranetics (NASDAQ: SPNC) with a Neutral rating.
  • Merrill reinstated Chevron (NYSE: CVX), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and Hess Corp (NYSE: HES) with Buy ratings and price targets of $110, $105 and $125, respectively.

Piggybacking the pros: CGM Focus Fund

This market is tough. Pros and novices alike are having a tough time. Particularly in a down market, a market commentators like to call a ""stock picker's market," I find it illustrative to dig deeper into the holdings of those special professional money managers that have found a way to make a go of it.

Take the CGM Focus (CGMFX) fund. This fund consistently shows up at the top of 1-year, 3-year, and multi-year best performers. CGM Focus has returned on average 37% per year for the past five years. While this is absolutely no guarantee that it will continue to perform like this, fund manager Chuck Heebner seems to have the special sauce -- at least for now.

So, what has been so successful for the fund?

Commodity picks like fertilizer plays Potash (NYSE: POT) and Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) have been big positions and have been big winners. Steel plays like US Steel (NYSE: X) have performed very nicely for CGM as well.

Looking at what worked is somewhat like looking into a rear-view mirror. These gains were in the past. What's Heebner and team buying now?

Continue reading Piggybacking the pros: CGM Focus Fund

Options update: Hess and Occidental Petroleum rally on $95 oil

Hess (NYSE: HES) closed at a record high of $104.40 Wednesday. WTI Crude futures are down 0.30% to $95.68 according to Bloomberg. HES overall option implied volatility of 46 is above its 26-week average of 38 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risks.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) closed at record high of $78.06 Wednesday. OXY operates in two segments: oil-gas and chemicals. OXY has a market cap of $64 billion with long-term debt of $1.7 billion. OXY overall option implied volatility of 34 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price fluctuations.

Options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

The 52-week high club

Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES): HES keeps rising with the price of oil. The stock was up to $86.46 against a 52-week low of $45.96.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN): BioMarin is now able to charge more for new drug Kuvan than expected. Shares were up to $37.17 compared to 52-week low of $15.53.

Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:SVNT): Strong results from its new gout drug kept shares up second day in a row. It hit $19.40 against 52-week low of $10.58.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL): An upgrade from Lehman came after strong results from drug trials. Shares spiked to $31 in contrast to 52-week low of $6.64.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Hess (HES): Big Oil's lower-profile play

With the markets in a choppy consolidation mode, it's best to consider including a few defensive stocks in your portfolio. Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) is worth a review.

Hess's 68% organic reserve replacement is sub-par but most other fundamentals are favorable. In general, analysts see decent-to-good production increases, and reasonable operating costs, but the value driver here, of course, is gasoline refining, energy marketing, and retail gasoline sales (including 1,350 Hess gasoline stations). A liquefied natural gas joint venture also adds to the mix. The Reuters F2007/F2008 EPS consensus estimates for HES are $5.72/$6.24.

Hess is not as well-known or as large as its oil industry counterparts, but in the era of elevated oil prices, and barely-adequate U.S. refinery capacity, particularly for gasoline, those two data points can be overlooked. Moreover, in general oil stocks are not a defensive play, strictly speaking, but the bias here is toward adding an oil stock or two, given current market conditions, as there's little empirical evidence to suggest that the era of elevated oil prices will end anytime soon.

Continue reading Hess (HES): Big Oil's lower-profile play

An analysis of selected WSJ defensive plays

Yesterday's WSJ's "Heard On The Street" column (subscription required) has published examples of recession-resistant stocks, in order to better-prepare individual investors for a potential additional downturn in the U.S. economy.

We took it a step further. What follows is a more panoramic view of each stock, including chart analysis.

AT&T (NYSE: T): the telecom giant has become a growth company. T's chart is healthy with the stock recently broken out to $42.50.


Continue reading An analysis of selected WSJ defensive plays

Analyst upgrades: AA, FFIV, MAT, UNH and SUN

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Mattel (MAT), UnitedHealth (UNH), Alcoa (AA), 1-800-Flowers.com (FLWS) and Marathon Oil (MRO) were today's noteworthy upgrades:
  • Piper upgraded shares of Mattel (NYSE: MAT) to Outperform from Peer Perform on valuation and improving fundamentals and notes that product recalls have historically not had a lasting impact on sales.
  • Goldman upgraded UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) to Neutral from Sell on valuation and expectations for improved profitability in 2H07.
  • Alcoa (NYSE: AA) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings on valuation and expectations for a favorable report next week.
  • JMP Securities has increased confidence in 1-800-Flowers.com's (NASDAQ: FLWS) management initiatives to drive leverage and operating margins following the Q4 report, upgrading shares to Outperform from Market Perform.
  • Lehman upgraded shares of Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) to Overweight from Equal-Weight on valuation and expectations for strong oil and gas production growth...

OTHER UPGRADES:

  • NBTY Inc (NYSE: NTY) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at JP Morgan.
  • Goldman upgraded the oil services sector to Attractive from Neutral based on the recent pullback; Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) and Hess (NYSE: HES) were also upgraded to Buy from Neutral.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Analyst downgrades 7-26-07: ATE, MER, PFCB and TSM

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Advantest (ATE), RightNow Technologies (RNOW), Mattson Technology (MTSN), Akamai Technologies (AKAM) and P.F. Chang's (PFCB) were today's noteworthy downgrades:
  • Matrix downgraded Advantest (NYSE: ATE) to Strong Sell from Hold; the firm doesn't expect Advantest's profits to improve in the near-term after chip makers indicated they plan to cut capital spending.
  • RightNow Technologies (NASDAQ: RNOW) was cut to Sector Perform from Outperform at Pacific Crest to reflect the company's poor execution.
  • Mattson Technology (NASDAQ: MTSN) was downgraded to Sell from Buy at American Technology; The firm said Q2 results were strong but bookings and gross margin outlook were weaker due to memory spending weakness.
  • Credit Suisse downgraded P.F. Chang's (NASDAQ: PFCB) to Market Weight from Overweight at Thomas Wiesel to reflect below plan new store performance for the third consecutive year at Pei Wei...
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
  • Merriman downgraded Fuel Tech (NASDAQ: FTEK) to Neutral from Buy.
  • Bear Stearns cut Hess Corp (NYSE: HES) to Peer Perform from Outperform.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Newspaper wrap-up 5-25-07: Google being looked at by EU

MAJOR PAPERS:
OTHER PAPERS:

Analyst downgrades 4-09-07: Hess Corp & American Home Mortgage downgraded today

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Hess Corp (HES), American Home Mortgage Investment Corp (AHM) and Anglo American plc (AAUK) were today's noteworthy downgrades.
  • Lehman Brothers downgraded Hess Corp (NYSE: HES) to Underweight from Equal-Weight based on valuation.
  • American Home Mortgage Investment Corp (NYSE: AHM) was cut to Underperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette, to Market Perform from Outperform at Friedman Billings, to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Lehman Brothers, to Sell from Hold at Citigroup and to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • Anglo American plc (NASDAQ: AAUK) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets based on valuation.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Next Page >

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+203.5210,226.94
NASDAQ+41.622,154.06
S&P 500+23.781,093.08

Last updated: November 10, 2009: 01:58 AM

BloggingStocks Exclusives

Hot Stocks

DailyFinance Headlines

Latest from BloggingBuyouts

WalletPop Headlines

AOL Business News

BioHealth Investor Headlines

Sponsored Links

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

BloggingStocks Partners

More from AOL Money & Finance