Trans Canada Capital Inc. Takes $891,000 Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Trans Canada Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $891,000. Hess accounts for approximately 0.1% of Trans Canada Capital Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in Hess by 22.7% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 4,186 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Hess in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on HES. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.60.

Hess Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $159.96 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $49.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98.

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

Hess Announces Dividend

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