Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 3,162 Shares of Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its position in shares of Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 297,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 3,162 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.10% of Hess worth $47,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HES. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in Hess by 3.5% in the fourth 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. grew 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 valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hess by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in Hess by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 629 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Hess by 2.5% during the first quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hess Price Performance

Hess stock opened at $143.50 on Friday. Hess Corporation has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $161.69. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $133.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.07. The stock has a market cap of $44.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.85 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.14). Hess had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. Hess’s quarterly revenue was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Hess Corporation will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 27.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 6.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 650,000 shares of company stock worth $91,845,500. 9.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Hess from $163.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $151.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Hess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hess currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.16.

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.