Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Trims Stock Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund cut its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 37.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 368,766 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 224,500 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Hess were worth $50,078,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HES. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Hess during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Hess by 59.8% in 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 during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Hess by 47.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Hess in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Hess in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total transaction of $18,385,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 217,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,047,849.52. The trade was a 36.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % 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 quarter. 9.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hess Price Performance

HES opened at $146.76 on Thursday. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.31. The company has a market capitalization of $45.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HES has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.30.

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.