John B. Hess Sells 175,000 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Stock

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at $379,879,364.70. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HES traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $158.48. 1,819,911 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,858,702. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.79. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. 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 cap of $48.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 1.21.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hess

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HES. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Hess by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,141,244 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,408,117,000 after acquiring an additional 296,406 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Hess by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 11,438,985 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,521,499,000 after buying an additional 698,866 shares in the last quarter. HBK Investments L P grew its position in Hess by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,237,911 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $962,715,000 after buying an additional 120,091 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Hess by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,695,533 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $888,240,000 after buying an additional 158,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,844,257 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $511,325,000 after acquiring an additional 91,131 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.60.

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.