Empowered Funds LLC Sells 3,988 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Empowered Funds LLC lowered its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,830 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 3,988 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $13,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HES. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Hess by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,126,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,903,793,000 after buying an additional 294,146 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of Hess by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 8,098,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,194,619,000 after purchasing an additional 340,490 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Hess by 34.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $418,291,000 after acquiring an additional 726,631 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Hess by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,451,807 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $361,691,000 after purchasing an additional 150,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Hess by 11.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,798,788 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $265,359,000 after buying an additional 181,459 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Sunday, November 10th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.30.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total value of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. This represents a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Up 0.2 %

Hess stock opened at $145.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $136.09 and its 200 day moving average is $143.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.31%.

About Hess

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.