Avantra Family Wealth Inc. Invests $598,000 in Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES)

Avantra Family Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,745 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HES. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hess by 276.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 722 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter worth about $764,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,384 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hess by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 80.0% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 423 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of Hess 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 650,000 shares of company stock valued at $91,845,500 in the last 90 days. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $144.51 on Friday. Hess Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $161.69. The stock has a market cap of $44.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.02.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.14). Hess had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 17.65%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.16 EPS. Hess’s quarterly revenue was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hess Corporation will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on HES shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Hess from $151.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Hess from $163.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.16.

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.