Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Acquired by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 134.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,524 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $834,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the first quarter worth $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 47.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth $48,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the second quarter worth $60,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 31.1% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 451 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $145.64 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97 and a beta of 1.15. 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 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. Hess’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Hess’s payout ratio is 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HES shares. Wolfe Research raised Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 27th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.30.

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.