First Horizon Advisors Inc. Sells 717 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 31.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,571 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 717 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hess were worth $213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HES. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Hess during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Hess by 59.8% during the third 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. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Hess by 47.6% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Hess during the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research report 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.30.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In related news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of Hess 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,914,927. This represents a 28.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES opened at $148.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $138.79 and its 200-day moving average is $142.69. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.