Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,374 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 22,091 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hess were worth $2,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Hess by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,760 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,135 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new position in Hess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $323,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Hess by 441.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 54,831 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,293,000 after purchasing an additional 44,710 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on HES. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup upped 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hess has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Hess Stock Down 4.9 %

Hess stock opened at $138.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 1.18. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $140.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.47.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.85%. Equities analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total transaction of $13,729,733.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,914,927. This represents a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

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.