Sapient Capital LLC Sells 147 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Sapient Capital LLC lowered its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,843 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 147 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 129,977 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $18,737,000 after acquiring an additional 8,439 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. bought a new position in Hess in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,407,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Hess by 1,456.8% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 7,504 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after acquiring an additional 7,022 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Hess in the fourth quarter valued at about $967,000. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its holdings in Hess by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 39,249 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 16,861 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 56,925 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total transaction of $8,330,973.75. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 78,287 shares in the company, valued at $11,457,302.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total value of $2,103,184.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares in the company, valued at $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 56,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total value of $8,330,973.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 78,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,457,302.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166. 9.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on HES shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.42.

Hess Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE HES traded down $5.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $157.49. 1,668,279 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,546,743. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $48.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12 and a beta of 1.27. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $124.27 and a 1 year high of $167.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $151.88 and a 200 day moving average of $147.19.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $3.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $1.43. Hess had a return on equity of 22.73% and a net margin of 17.41%. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 36.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.58 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.80%.

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.