Wolverine Asset Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 13,505 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,947,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Hess by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 319 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK grew its position in shares of Hess by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 1,584 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its stake in shares of Hess by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 4,420 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Hess by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 385 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Hess by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 872 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES opened at $159.13 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $49.03 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $150.82 and a 200-day moving average of $147.10. Hess Co. has a one year low of $124.27 and a one year high of $167.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 12.98%. Hess’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th were given a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 38.89%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In related news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total value of $2,103,184.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,073,417.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 2,701 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $390,348.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 162,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,433,050.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total transaction of $2,103,184.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,581 shares in the company, valued at $5,073,417.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166. 9.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.42.

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.