Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Buys 100 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,195 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $7,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Hess by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Hess in the third quarter valued at about $48,000. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in Hess by 157.2% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Hess during the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total value of $12,890,115.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 in the last 90 days. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hess Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE HES opened at $144.32 on Friday. Hess Co. has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $44.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $141.05 and its 200-day moving average is $139.54.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HES shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Hess 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.