Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Position Reduced by Atria Investments Inc

Atria Investments Inc lowered its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,781 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 821 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Hess were worth $513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 8,098,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,194,619,000 after buying an additional 340,490 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Hess by 34.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $418,291,000 after acquiring an additional 726,631 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 6.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,451,807 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $361,691,000 after purchasing an additional 150,945 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Hess by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,798,788 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $265,359,000 after purchasing an additional 181,459 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 45.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,794,087 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $264,664,000 after purchasing an additional 561,832 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE HES opened at $147.47 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.19 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $137.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.73. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. Hess’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.30.

Insider Activity at Hess

In related news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. This represents a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.