Allstate Corp Acquires New Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 8,308 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,105,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Highbridge Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Highbridge Capital Management LLC now owns 579,445 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $77,072,000 after purchasing an additional 128,146 shares during the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS increased its stake in shares of Hess by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 57,826 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,691,000 after acquiring an additional 3,031 shares during the last quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter worth $246,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 105,336 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,011,000 after acquiring an additional 9,364 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,171,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Price Performance

HES stock opened at $158.48 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $147.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.00. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The company has a market capitalization of $48.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HES has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.60.

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.