Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda Cuts Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda trimmed its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 221,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 377 shares during the period. Hess accounts for about 19.7% of Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda owned approximately 0.07% of Hess worth $29,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Hess in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Hess in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hess in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its position in Hess by 225.6% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 293 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on HES shares. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.46.

Insider Activity

In other 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 9.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES opened at $132.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $142.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.90. The firm has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71 and a beta of 0.88.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. On average, analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. 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.