Commerce Bank Has $2.18 Million Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Commerce Bank grew its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,044 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Hess were worth $2,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HES. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in Hess by 3.6% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 21,243 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,243,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Hess by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 112,331 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $17,146,000 after acquiring an additional 10,352 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in Hess during the first quarter worth $325,000. Caxton Associates LP grew its holdings in Hess by 8.6% in the first quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 220,032 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,586,000 after purchasing an additional 17,505 shares during the period. Finally, Blackstone Inc. bought a new stake in Hess in the first quarter valued at $829,000. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on HES. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total value of $18,385,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,047,849.52. This trade represents a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $148.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $138.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.58. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 23.31%.

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.