Atria Investments LLC Boosts Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Atria Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES – Get Rating) by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,829 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Atria Investments LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HES. CX Institutional purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the second quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Corient Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Hess by 19.0% during the second quarter. Corient Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth approximately $1,940,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Hess by 61.1% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,946,839 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $524,068,000 after buying an additional 1,876,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Hess by 132.7% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,141 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,418,000 after buying an additional 29,160 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HES has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Wednesday, October 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Hess from $130.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Mizuho downgraded shares of Hess from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Susquehanna Bancshares lifted their price objective on shares of Hess from $144.00 to $166.00 in a report on Thursday, October 27th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other Hess news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 37,419 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.21, for a total transaction of $5,545,869.99. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,346,554.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 53,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.45, for a total value of $7,724,925.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 78,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,251,357.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 37,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.21, for a total value of $5,545,869.99. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,346,554.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.93% of the company’s stock.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $153.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.37. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.56 and a fifty-two week high of $156.98. The stock has a market cap of $47.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.60 and a beta of 1.55.

Hess (NYSE:HES – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 26th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 25.57% and a net margin of 17.31%. Equities analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 19th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 16th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

About Hess

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Hess Corp is an exploration and production company, which engages in exploration, development, production, transportation, purchase & sale of crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas with production operations. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production and Midstream.