Artemis Investment Management LLP Takes $3.98 Million Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 29,943 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,983,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hess in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,054,000. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 59,927 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,971,000 after purchasing an additional 3,625 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Hess by 20.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,213,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $169,767,000 after buying an additional 208,996 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,052,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 295.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 84,277 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $11,445,000 after buying an additional 62,966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on HES shares. 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 report on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a report on Monday, January 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hess has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Hess Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of HES opened at $151.33 on Monday. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.51. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $46.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.18.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is 23.31%.

Insider Activity 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.