Wahed Invest LLC Increases Stock Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Wahed Invest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,783 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the quarter. Wahed Invest LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HES. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 59.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the second quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Up 0.5 %

HES stock opened at $144.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $141.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.93. The stock has a market cap of $44.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87 and a beta of 1.17.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Hess’s payout ratio is 23.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on HES. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.50.

Insider Activity

In other Hess news, 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 value of $13,729,733.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,914,927. The trade was a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $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 have sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 in the last ninety days. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.