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

Kercheville Advisors LLC cut its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 35,825 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Hess accounts for approximately 2.9% of Kercheville Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Kercheville Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $5,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hess by 581.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,342,311 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $358,374,000 after buying an additional 1,998,824 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Hess by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,610,484 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $552,404,000 after buying an additional 1,105,204 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Hess by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 37,239,078 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,697,579,000 after buying an additional 889,122 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Hess by 703.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,007,485 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $154,146,000 after buying an additional 882,045 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $113,801,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HES. UBS Group reduced their target price on Hess from $210.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Mizuho upped their target price on Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Hess from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a research report on Sunday, March 24th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on Hess from $152.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.23.

Hess Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:HES traded up $2.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $152.64. The company had a trading volume of 2,443,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,943,561. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $146.42 and a 200 day moving average of $147.01. The company has a market cap of $46.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.92 and a beta of 1.27. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $124.27 and a 1 year high of $167.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 7.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 18th were issued a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 38.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total value of $10,777,604.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,234,794.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total transaction of $10,777,604.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,234,794.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 56,925 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total value of $8,330,973.75. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 78,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,457,302.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166 in the last three months. 9.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.