Prospector Partners LLC Acquires 99 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Prospector Partners LLC grew its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,082 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $7,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HES. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Hess by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Hess by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 629 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HES has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $133.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The company has a fifty day moving average of $148.37 and a 200-day moving average of $142.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 0.88.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

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.