Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Purchased by Advisory Alpha LLC

Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,203 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring 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 reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in Hess by 22.7% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,186 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Hess by 59.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hess in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Hess during the third quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 17.87 % 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 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total transaction of $18,385,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,047,849.52. The trade was a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 over the last 90 days. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hess Stock Performance

HES stock opened at $144.80 on Friday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $141.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.51. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on HES shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.