Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 39.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,080 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 16,065 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Hess were worth $3,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Hess in the 4th quarter valued at about $384,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Hess by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 129,977 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $18,737,000 after purchasing an additional 8,439 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC grew its stake in Hess by 38.2% during the 4th quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 4,165 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Hess by 85.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 25,195 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,632,000 after purchasing an additional 11,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Hess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $967,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total transaction of $2,103,184.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total value of $2,103,184.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 2,701 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction of $390,348.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 162,144 shares in the company, valued at $23,433,050.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $154.35 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $124.27 and a 12-month high of $167.75. The company has a market cap of $47.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30 and a beta of 1.27. 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 stock’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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.20. Hess had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.09 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s payout ratio is 38.89%.

Hess Profile

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.