Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,227 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 394 shares during the quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hess by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hess by 6.6% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Hess by 59.8% during 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. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Hess by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Hess by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 451 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HES has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Monday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $149.71 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.48. The stock has a market cap of $46.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. This represents a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309 over the last 90 days. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.