Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC Increases Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,493 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HES. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 34.9% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,668 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Hess by 29.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 140,487 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $20,725,000 after purchasing an additional 32,081 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Hess by 228.7% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 6,909 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 4,807 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Hess in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,450,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hess by 71.3% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,492 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,318,000 after buying an additional 9,363 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HES shares. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of 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 Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Hess Price Performance

HES stock opened at $151.33 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $163.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $46.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $140.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.57.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total value of $13,729,733.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,914,927. The trade was a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

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.