Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Bought by abrdn plc

abrdn plc grew its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 70.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 118,256 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,686 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Hess were worth $17,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hess in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Hess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total value of $10,777,604.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,234,794.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 33,581 shares in the company, valued at $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total value of $10,777,604.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 138,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,234,794.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 155,798 shares of company stock valued at $22,811,166 over the last quarter. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HES. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a research note on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.42.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $159.13 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $49.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.36 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $150.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.10. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $124.27 and a twelve month high of $167.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Hess had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th were given a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.89%.

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.