Northern Trust Corp Buys 214,704 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,799,020 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 214,704 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Hess were worth $372,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Hess by 46.3% during 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 buying an additional 927,093 shares during the period. Symmetry Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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. grew its stake in shares of Hess by 6.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 698,866 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in Hess by 183.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 594,425 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $79,064,000 after purchasing an additional 384,595 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Hess by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,616,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $347,984,000 after purchasing an additional 360,344 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE HES opened at $132.35 on Wednesday. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $142.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.90. The stock 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid 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 currently 22.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HES. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Scotiabank decreased their price objective 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. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.