Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Trims Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC trimmed its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,990 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 153 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hess by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Hess by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 6.6% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased 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 worth $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Hess by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hess has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total value of $18,385,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES opened at $141.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $43.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $140.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.05. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month 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.

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

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

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.