Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 202,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 15,000 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Hess were worth $27,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Hess by 1.6% during the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,599 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Hess by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 540 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Hess by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Hess by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,771 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on HES shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.30.

Insider Activity

In other Hess news, 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 value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total transaction of $18,385,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,047,849.52. This trade represents a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hess Trading Up 0.2 %

HES opened at $147.06 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $140.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.25.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.31%.

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.