Sanctuary Advisors LLC Has $4.78 Million Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 13.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,182 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 5,065 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $4,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Hess by 22.7% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 4,186 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Hess by 59.8% in 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. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Hess in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in Hess by 157.2% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total transaction of $13,729,733.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares in the company, valued at $33,914,927. The trade was a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of Hess stock opened at $140.20 on Monday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $141.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.35.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. Hess’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HES. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.50.

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.