Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Position Increased by Advisory Alpha LLC

Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,203 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HES. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Hess by 22.7% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 4,186 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Hess by 59.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hess during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Hess during the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in Hess by 157.2% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:HES opened at $144.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $141.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.51. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The company has a market capitalization of $44.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88 and a beta of 1.18. 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 (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. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on HES shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Susquehanna upped their target price on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Hess Company Profile

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.