New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Takes $3.17 Million Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 23,841 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,171,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Hess by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 18,862 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,764 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth $298,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its position in Hess by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 2,474 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Twin Securities Inc. increased its stake in Hess by 82.8% in the 3rd quarter. Twin Securities Inc. now owns 95,663 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $12,991,000 after buying an additional 43,332 shares during the period. Finally, Westchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Hess by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,731,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $235,164,000 after buying an additional 200,197 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on HES shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.60.

Hess Price Performance

Hess stock opened at $158.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 1.21. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

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.