Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $12.60 Million Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 92,750 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,274 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Hess were worth $12,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Hess by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,599 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Hess by 7.3% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Hess by 16.9% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 540 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 4.7% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,771 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 0.6% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,629 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,158,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hess Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $147.47 on Thursday. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $163.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $137.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.73. The stock has a market cap of $45.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.19 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. Hess’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.31%.

Insider Activity

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on HES shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.30.

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.