Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 8,439 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 129,977 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,439 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Hess were worth $18,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in Hess by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 319 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Hess by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 403 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam lifted its stake in Hess by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Ossiam now owns 8,093 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Hess by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,667 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hess by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 12,726 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hess Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of HES opened at $151.78 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $149.71 and a 200 day moving average of $146.79. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $124.27 and a fifty-two week high of $167.75. The firm has a market cap of $46.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.73 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. Hess had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.09 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 18th were issued a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on HES. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Hess from $152.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total transaction of $2,103,184.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total transaction of $2,103,184.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $153,480.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,257,071.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,798 shares of company stock valued at $22,811,166 in the last quarter. 9.76% 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.