Sigma Planning Corp Invests $295,000 in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Sigma Planning Corp acquired a new position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,048 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Hess by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 319 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its position in Hess by 5.4% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 1,584 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its position in Hess by 2.0% in the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 4,420 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Hess by 33.7% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 385 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Hess by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 872 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 2,701 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 162,144 shares in the company, valued at $23,433,050.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 138,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,234,794.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 2,701 shares of the company’s 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166. 9.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.42.

Hess Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $162.53 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $124.27 and a 52-week high of $167.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.22. The firm has a market cap of $50.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.89 and a beta of 1.27.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $3.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $1.43. Hess had a net margin of 17.41% and a return on equity of 22.73%. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 36.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 26.80%.

Hess Company 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.