Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Buys 78 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Hess in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Covestor Ltd raised 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 worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 47.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES opened at $146.94 on Tuesday. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $45.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. Hess’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. This is a boost 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hess presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.30.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total value of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hess Company 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.