Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $2.41 Million Investment in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 16,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,407,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HES. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Hess by 581.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,342,311 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $358,374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998,824 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Hess by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,610,484 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $552,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,204 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Hess by 2.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 37,239,078 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,697,579,000 after buying an additional 889,122 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Hess by 703.2% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,007,485 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $154,146,000 after buying an additional 882,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the second quarter valued at about $113,801,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $150.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $46.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.73. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $124.27 and a twelve month high of $167.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. Hess had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 18th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 38.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on HES shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $152.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction of $153,480.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,257,071.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Hess news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction of $153,480.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,257,071.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total transaction of $10,777,604.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,718 shares in the company, valued at $20,234,794.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 155,798 shares of company stock valued at $22,811,166. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.