Oak Thistle LLC Makes New Investment in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,697 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Hess by 34.9% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,668 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hess by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 140,487 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $20,725,000 after purchasing an additional 32,081 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the 2nd quarter worth $321,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Hess by 228.7% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 6,909 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,019,000 after buying an additional 4,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Hess by 400.4% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 19,520 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,880,000 after buying an additional 15,619 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In related news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total value of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 28.85 % 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. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES opened at $149.71 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $140.34 and a 200-day moving average of $139.48. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The company has a market capitalization of $46.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. 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. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.