True North Advisors LLC Makes New $216,000 Investment in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

True North Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,625 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hess by 7.2% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,698 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Hess by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 19,663 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Hess by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 53,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,834,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Hess by 22.4% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,739 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 145.8% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 671 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hess Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $144.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88 and a beta of 1.18. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $141.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.51. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.49 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. 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. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. 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 report on Monday, September 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hess currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

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.