Clarius Group LLC Grows Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Clarius Group LLC lifted its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,252 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HES. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Hess by 59.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 157.2% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Hess in the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on HES shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total value of $12,890,115.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. This represents a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess 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 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 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 90 days. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $151.33 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.51. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued 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 company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. Hess’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.51 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.31%.

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.