Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) is HBK Investments L P’s Largest Position

HBK Investments L P grew its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 16.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,017,720 shares during the period. Hess accounts for about 15.4% of HBK Investments L P’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. HBK Investments L P’s holdings in Hess were worth $966,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Hess by 3.0% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 72,362 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $11,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the first quarter valued at $275,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Hess in the 1st quarter valued at $36,936,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Hess by 424.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,466 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,971,000 after acquiring an additional 15,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hess by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 4,415 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HES. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.30.

Insider Activity

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This trade 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Price Performance

HES stock opened at $146.76 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $140.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.34. 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 $45.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 1.15. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s payout ratio is 23.31%.

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.