Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Bought by Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP

Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 330,110 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 91,654 shares during the period. Hess accounts for approximately 4.0% of Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Hess were worth $44,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Hess by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 72,362 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $11,043,000 after buying an additional 2,136 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Hess in the first quarter worth about $275,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Hess by 59.9% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,823 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,087,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053 shares during the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Hess during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Hess in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,936,000. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup cut their price target on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.30.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES opened at $146.76 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.31. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $45.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total value of $13,729,733.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,914,927. The trade was a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309 over the last three months. Corporate 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.