Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 5,452 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 112.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,287 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 5,452 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Hess in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new position in Hess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on HES. Mizuho raised their price target on Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Hess from $152.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.75.

Hess Stock Up 1.7 %

HES stock opened at $154.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.30 and a beta of 1.27. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $124.27 and a 1-year high of $167.75. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.81.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.09 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 18th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.89%.

Insider Activity at Hess

In related news, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 2,701 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $390,348.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 162,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,433,050.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 2,701 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $390,348.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 162,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,433,050.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 56,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total value of $8,330,973.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 78,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,457,302.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166 in the last ninety days. 9.76% of the stock is owned by company 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.