Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES – Get Rating) by 1.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 445,639 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 4,784 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Hess were worth $48,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in shares of Hess in the third quarter worth about $243,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Hess by 5.5% in the third quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 9,986 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,088,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems raised its position in shares of Hess by 6.1% in the third quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 21,812 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,377,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess in the third quarter worth about $681,000. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its position in shares of Hess by 2.9% in the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 4,276,887 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $466,138,000 after acquiring an additional 121,766 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.06% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

Hess stock opened at $118.33 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.69. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $90.34 and a 1-year high of $160.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $36.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 1.55.

Hess (NYSE:HES – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.09. Hess had a net margin of 19.21% and a return on equity of 27.97%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 6.96 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 13th will be issued a $0.438 dividend. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 10th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on HES shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Hess from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $161.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.00.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 109,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.81, for a total value of $15,878,271.69. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 898,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,148,277.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 109,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.81, for a total value of $15,878,271.69. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 898,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,148,277.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 5,701 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.46, for a total transaction of $795,061.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,264 shares in the company, valued at $5,475,757.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 227,720 shares of company stock worth $32,305,936. 9.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hess Company Profile

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Hess Corp is an exploration and production company, which engages in exploration, development, production, transportation, purchase & sale of crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas with production operations. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production and Midstream.