Caprock Group LLC Sells 658 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Caprock Group LLC decreased its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,078 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 658 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Hess in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Hess by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Hess by 47.6% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE HES opened at $148.65 on Friday. Hess Co. has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of Hess stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on HES. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.30.

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.