R Squared Ltd Makes New $329,000 Investment in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total transaction of $13,729,733.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,914,927. The trade was a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309 in the last 90 days. 9.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $144.95 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.41. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $44.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.89 and a beta of 1.18.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna upped 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. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

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.