Wedmont Private Capital Has $556,000 Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HESFree Report) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,906 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Hess were worth $556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Hess by 58.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $509,675,000 after buying an additional 1,391,311 shares during the period. HBK Investments L P boosted its holdings in Hess by 16.7% in the third quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $966,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017,720 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Hess by 31.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $450,696,000 after acquiring an additional 785,270 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Hess by 76.4% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,532,132 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $227,273,000 after acquiring an additional 663,338 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 64.3% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,449,969 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $218,220,000 after acquiring an additional 567,550 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hess

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

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $146.59 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $140.21 and its 200 day moving average is $139.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HESGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Hess’s payout ratio is 23.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on HES

Hess Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Hess (NYSE:HES)

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