Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Bought by Slotnik Capital LLC

Slotnik Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 167,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,300 shares during the period. Hess comprises 10.1% of Slotnik Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Slotnik Capital LLC owned about 0.05% of Hess worth $22,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HES. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Hess by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hess by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Hess by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 629 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES opened at $160.23 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $49.40 billion, a PE ratio of 17.80 and a beta of 1.21.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company 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 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.