John B. Hess Sells 175,000 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Stock

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Hess Stock Down 0.4 %

HES stock traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $158.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,819,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,858,702. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $48.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 1.21. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its 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%. Analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HES has been the subject of several research reports. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hess

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Hess by 58.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $509,675,000 after buying an additional 1,391,311 shares during the last quarter. HBK Investments L P increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 16.7% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 1,017,720 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Hess by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $389,787,000 after acquiring an additional 927,093 shares in the last quarter. Symmetry Investments LP lifted its stake in Hess by 154.1% during the fourth quarter. Symmetry Investments LP now owns 1,381,076 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $183,697,000 after purchasing an additional 837,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Hess by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 11,438,985 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,521,499,000 after purchasing an additional 698,866 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

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.