ING Groep NV Increases Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

ING Groep NV increased its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 267.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 533,264 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 388,273 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Hess were worth $72,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the second quarter worth about $6,054,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Hess by 59.9% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,823 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,087,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Hess by 424.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,466 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,971,000 after purchasing an additional 15,757 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hess by 2.7% during the second quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 590,326 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $87,085,000 after acquiring an additional 15,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Hess by 255.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,836 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,008,000 after buying an additional 4,911 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on HES shares. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.30.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES traded up $1.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $144.13. 264,897 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,101,302. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $136.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. Hess’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at $31,791,753.09. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Hess

Hess Corporation, an exploration and production company, explores, develops, produces, purchases, transports, and sells crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. The company operates in two segments, Exploration and Production, and Midstream. It conducts production operations primarily in the United States, Guyana, the Malaysia/Thailand Joint Development Area, and Malaysia; and exploration activities principally offshore Guyana, the U.S.