Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) SVP Sells $851,460.00 in Stock

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Hess Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of HES opened at $145.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $136.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.18. The firm has a market cap of $44.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 23.31%.

Institutional Trading of Hess

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Hess by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,126,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,903,793,000 after buying an additional 294,146 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 4.4% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 8,098,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,194,619,000 after acquiring an additional 340,490 shares in the last quarter. HBK Investments L P increased its holdings in Hess by 16.7% in the third quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $966,600,000 after buying an additional 1,017,720 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 31.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $450,696,000 after purchasing an additional 785,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 34.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $418,291,000 after purchasing an additional 726,631 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hess presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.30.

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.