John B. Hess Sells 92,894 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Stock

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total transaction of $13,729,733.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,914,927. This represents a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $148.65 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $138.79 and a 200-day moving average of $142.48. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.30.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.