Artemis Investment Management LLP Makes New $3.98 Million Investment in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 29,943 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,983,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HES. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in Hess by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,186 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Hess by 59.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 157.2% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hess has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.50.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $151.33 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.18. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.51.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total value of $18,385,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 217,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,047,849.52. The trade was a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess 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.