Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Lowers Stock Holdings in Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lowered its holdings in shares of Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) by 51.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,601 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,664 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Hess were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 106.2% in the first quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 293 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on HES. Scotiabank set a $155.00 target price on Hess and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Hess from $193.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $34,002,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,734,679 shares in the company, valued at $235,933,690.79. This trade represents a 12.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $147.58 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Hess Corporation has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $161.69.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 17.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hess Corporation will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.66%.

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.