National Bank of Canada FI Lowers Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 36.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 322,816 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 187,521 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.10% of Hess worth $42,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Hess by 58.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $389,787,000 after acquiring an additional 927,093 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter worth about $47,056,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Hess in the 4th quarter worth about $42,158,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Hess by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,141,244 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,408,117,000 after purchasing an additional 296,406 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HES shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.60.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE HES opened at $160.23 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $148.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.58. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

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

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.