Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 134.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,524 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HES. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 39.7% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 13,955 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,130,000 after purchasing an additional 3,968 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 909,089 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $138,763,000 after purchasing an additional 218,563 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 300.4% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 9,986 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,524,000 after purchasing an additional 7,492 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $933,000. Finally, Carlson Capital L P increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Carlson Capital L P now owns 633,767 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $96,738,000 after purchasing an additional 85,510 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HES shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.30.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE HES opened at $145.64 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $136.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.87. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $44.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97 and a beta of 1.15.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

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.