Insider Selling: Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) CEO Sells 90,476 Shares of Stock

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Hess Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE HES traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $142.74. 1,861,015 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,122,294. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.78. The firm has a market cap of $43.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. Hess’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HES. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 9,969 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 231.5% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 663 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of Hess during the first quarter valued at about $1,001,000. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Hess in the 1st quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC bought a new stake in Hess in the first quarter valued at $250,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup decreased 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.00.

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.