Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 3.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 326,921 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 10,738 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Hess were worth $44,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Hess by 59.8% during 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. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Hess during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Hess during the third quarter worth about $48,000. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in Hess by 157.2% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HES has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Hess Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $128.19 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $140.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.74. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.94 and a beta of 1.17.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total transaction of $13,729,733.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,914,927. This trade represents a 28.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 valued at $45,856,309 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

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.