Breakwater Capital Group Buys 130 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Breakwater Capital Group grew its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,350 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group’s holdings in Hess were worth $313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth $48,000. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 157.2% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Hess in the third quarter valued at about $55,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HES has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hess presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 229,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,914,927. This trade represents a 28.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Price Performance

HES opened at $146.59 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $45.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09 and a beta of 1.18. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. Hess’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 23.31%.

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.