Fmr LLC Reduces Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Fmr LLC trimmed its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 32.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,475,061 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,197,265 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $607,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 47.6% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on HES shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.30.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $146.76 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $140.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 1.15. Hess Co. has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total transaction of $18,385,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,047,849.52. This trade represents a 36.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

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.