Traders Purchase High Volume of Hess Put Options (NYSE:HES)

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 30,283 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,436% compared to the typical volume of 1,972 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Hess Stock Down 0.4 %

HES stock opened at $158.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $48.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day moving average is $147.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.79.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. Research analysts expect that Hess will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of Hess 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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