3,697 Shares in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Acquired by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,697 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HES. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Hess during the third quarter worth $37,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Hess in the third quarter valued at $48,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 157.2% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,914,927. This trade represents a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HES shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a research note on Monday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.50.

Hess Price Performance

HES opened at $149.71 on Friday. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $140.34 and a 200 day moving average of $139.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $46.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.18.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during 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 revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.