Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Stake Decreased by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,292 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in Hess by 22.7% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 59.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Hess in the third quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 157.2% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HES has been the topic of several research reports. Susquehanna upped their price target on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wolfe Research raised Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the business’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 value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 over the last quarter. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Down 0.5 %

HES opened at $144.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $141.05 and a 200-day moving average of $139.51.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.31%.

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.