Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 351 Shares of Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,027 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Hess by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 27,651 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,744,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Hess by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 23,358 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at $207,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Hess by 276.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 722 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Hess during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HES has been the subject of several recent research reports. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $163.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Hess from $151.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.16.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE HES opened at $144.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 0.62. Hess Corporation has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $161.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $132.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.07.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Hess had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm’s revenue was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Hess Corporation will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 225,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.18, for a total transaction of $29,965,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,984,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,319,549.22. The trade was a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 650,000 shares of company stock valued at $91,845,500. 9.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.