Bank of Montreal Can Acquires 179,129 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,629,098 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 179,129 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Hess were worth $217,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Hess by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $450,696,000 after purchasing an additional 785,270 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Hess by 34.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $418,291,000 after buying an additional 726,631 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Hess by 76.4% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,532,132 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $227,273,000 after acquiring an additional 663,338 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Hess by 45.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,794,087 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $264,664,000 after acquiring an additional 561,832 shares during the period. Finally, Sculptor Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 188.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 765,542 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $112,933,000 after acquiring an additional 500,342 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at $31,791,753.09. This represents a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 over the last ninety days. 9.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $145.35 on Tuesday. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on HES. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group cut their target price on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Wolfe Research raised Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.30.

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.