Freedom Investment Management Inc. Has $240,000 Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 18.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,764 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 395 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Hess were worth $240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Hess by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $450,696,000 after buying an additional 785,270 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Hess by 34.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $418,291,000 after purchasing an additional 726,631 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Hess by 76.4% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,532,132 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $227,273,000 after purchasing an additional 663,338 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Hess by 64.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,449,969 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $218,220,000 after purchasing an additional 567,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Hess by 45.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,794,087 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $264,664,000 after purchasing an additional 561,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HES. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.30.

Hess Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of HES opened at $147.18 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $45.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 1.15. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.04.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 23.31%.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90,476 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 28.85 % 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 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

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.