FSA Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 276 Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hess by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,599 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 7.3% during the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Hess by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Hess by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,771 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Hess by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,629 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,158,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total value of $13,729,733.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,914,927. This represents a 28.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $147.18 on Monday. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $140.25 and a 200-day moving average of $142.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $45.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Hess 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.