Hess (NYSE:HES) Earnings Will be Below Consensus Says Barclays

Hess Corp.'s (NYSE:HES) fourth quarter 2010 earnings per share will coming far below consensus, according to Barclays, which sees downstream earnings falling by about 8 percent from the same quarter last year.

Barclays says, "We expect HES to report 4Q10 EPS of $1.10/share, compared to consensus of $1.25/share. We forecast upstream earnings of $447 million or $11.9/boe, down 8% y-o-y, and 18% q-o-q. We expect exploration expense to be $225 mm. Total production is estimated at 409 mboe/d (000's boe/d), down 1% y-o-y and q-o-q. We expect downstream earnings of $31 million, compared to a loss of $38 million in 3Q10 and a profit of $17 million in 4Q09."

Barclays reiterates an "Overweight" rating on Hess Corp. (HES), which was trading at $78.94, up $0.29, or 0.37 percent. Barclays has a price target of $92 on Hess.