UPDATE: Bank of America Reiterates Buy Rating, Raises PT on Hess Corp. as Company Nears End of Transition

In a report published Friday, Bank of America analyst Doug Leggate reiterated a Buy rating on

, and raised the price target from $120.00 to $128.00. In the report, Bank of America noted, “Hess is nearing the end of its transition to a pure play E&P. Within a matter of months, the sale of the retail business – at a 15x EBITDA multiple – will clear the way for a step up in its planned share buy-back program to $6.5bn of which $3.7bn is to be completed. As a ‘pure play', management will tackle the release of value from its mid-stream business through a likely MLP towards the turn of the year. From a smaller base production is set to accelerate and with its first analyst update planned for some time in 2H14 our expectation is that management will take the opportunity to step up production targets, that we view as out of date. Taken together we view Hess' current multiple, at some 3.8x 2015E DACF remains the lowest in the sector and unjustified by an outlook that can drive cash flow growth per debt adjusted share towards the high end of the peer group.” Hess Corp. closed on Thursday at $90.59.