Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by Dodge & Cox

Dodge & Cox lowered its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 45,950 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Dodge & Cox’s holdings in Hess were worth $6,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HES. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in Hess by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,098 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $232,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Hess by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,830 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,693,000 after acquiring an additional 757 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Hess by 20.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,213,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $169,767,000 after acquiring an additional 208,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter valued at approximately $23,765,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on HES shares. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.56.

Hess Trading Down 0.5 %

Hess stock opened at $127.26 on Wednesday. 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 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $146.08 and its 200-day moving average is $142.48. The company has a market cap of $39.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 0.88.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

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.