Metis Global Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,871 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,137 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HES. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,011 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 10,745 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,459,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $496,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,695,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Hess by 324.2% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Sunday, November 10th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Mizuho dropped 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. Scotiabank increased their price target on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.30.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $145.64 on Friday. 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 $136.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97 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 9.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.