Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC cut its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 547,395 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 86,810 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC owned 0.18% of Hess worth $72,809,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 59.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Hess in the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 157.2% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Hess during the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE HES opened at $138.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.21. The stock has a market cap of $42.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. On average, research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HES. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. 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, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hess currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Hess 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.