Aviva PLC Has $46.11 Million Stock Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Aviva PLC cut its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 346,636 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 6,585 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $46,106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HES. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $298,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth $294,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 12.5% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,648 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 11.0% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 121,162 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $16,454,000 after buying an additional 12,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 26,674 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,622,000 after acquiring an additional 6,653 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Price Performance

HES stock 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. The firm has a market cap of $41.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.74. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. On average, analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HES. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.60.

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.