Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,540,000 shares, a growth of 25.9% from the March 15th total of 5,990,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research note on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.26.

Insider Activity at Hess

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Hess by 16,134.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,546,506 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,470,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,980 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Hess by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $389,787,000 after purchasing an additional 927,093 shares during the last quarter. Symmetry Investments LP grew its holdings in Hess by 154.1% during the fourth quarter. Symmetry Investments LP now owns 1,381,076 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $183,697,000 after purchasing an additional 837,662 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in Hess by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 11,438,985 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,521,499,000 after buying an additional 698,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Hess by 164.1% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 769,042 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $102,290,000 after buying an additional 477,796 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hess Stock Down 4.3 %

NYSE:HES traded down $5.61 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $125.03. 612,135 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,887,260. 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 has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $38.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $145.14 and a 200 day moving average of $142.31.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Hess will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

About Hess

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.