Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Hess Put Options (NYSE:HES)

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 30,283 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,436% compared to the typical volume of 1,972 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Hess by 58.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $509,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391,311 shares in the last quarter. HBK Investments L P increased its stake in shares of Hess by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $966,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,720 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Hess by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $389,787,000 after buying an additional 927,093 shares in the last quarter. Symmetry Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 154.1% during the fourth quarter. Symmetry Investments LP now owns 1,381,076 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $183,697,000 after acquiring an additional 837,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in Hess by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 11,438,985 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,521,499,000 after purchasing an additional 698,866 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $159.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68 and a beta of 1.21. Hess has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.58. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts predict that Hess will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.60.

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.