Perpetual Ltd Cuts Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Perpetual Ltd lessened its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 180,350 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,646 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd owned approximately 0.06% of Hess worth $23,988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HES. HBK Investments L P boosted its holdings in Hess by 16.7% in the third quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $966,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,720 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,537,162 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $884,709,000 after buying an additional 74,085 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Hess by 58.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $509,675,000 after buying an additional 1,391,311 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Hess by 31.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $450,696,000 after buying an additional 785,270 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Hess by 6.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,451,807 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $361,691,000 after acquiring an additional 150,945 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of Hess stock opened at $151.33 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.44. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. Hess’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on HES shares. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total value of $18,385,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 217,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,047,849.52. This trade represents a 36.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.