Schroder Investment Management Group Sells 4,293 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Schroder Investment Management Group reduced its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,545 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 4,293 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Hess were worth $2,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in Hess by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hess by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Hess by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 629 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 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. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.60.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total value of $27,877,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 9.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of Hess stock opened at $133.89 on Monday. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.82.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

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.