Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Stake Decreased by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC trimmed its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,331 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 102 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in shares of Hess by 261.4% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,948 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $92,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its position in shares of Hess by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 5,461 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $742,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 31.1% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 451 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Hess by 1.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hess Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $145.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.91. 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 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $44.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 1.17.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. As a group, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total transaction of $18,385,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 217,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,047,849.52. This trade represents a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 9.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Thursday, February 6th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

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.