Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Hess (NYSE:HES)

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 23,173 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 384% compared to the average volume of 4,792 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HES. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Friday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Mizuho raised their price objective 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 boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 56,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total transaction of $8,330,973.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 78,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,457,302.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 56,925 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,457,302.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was 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 owns 138,718 shares in the company, valued at $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 in the last quarter. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in Hess by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 37,239,078 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,697,579,000 after acquiring an additional 889,122 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Hess by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,790,382 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,191,928,000 after buying an additional 303,942 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Hess by 44.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,610,484 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $552,404,000 after buying an additional 1,105,204 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Hess by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,951,451 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $451,572,000 after buying an additional 489,169 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Hess by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,866,681 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $438,602,000 after buying an additional 42,802 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Stock Up 0.2 %

Hess stock opened at $158.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.23. Hess has a fifty-two week low of $124.27 and a fifty-two week high of $167.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.33.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $3.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $1.43. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.98 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 22.73% and a net margin of 17.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Hess will post 9.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. 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.