Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Bought by Ellsworth Advisors LLC

Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,029 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HES. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Hess in the third quarter valued at $48,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in Hess by 157.2% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Hess during the third quarter worth about $55,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,914,927. This represents a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hess Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $151.33 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $46.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.18. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $140.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.51.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released 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 business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on HES shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

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.