Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Short Interest Down 22.8% in October

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,310,000 shares, a decline of 22.8% from the October 15th total of 5,580,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,500,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Hess Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $145.10 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $136.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26. Hess has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Hess’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Hess will post 9.76 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on HES shares. Mizuho cut their price target on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Sunday, November 10th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Slotnik Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 13.3% during the third quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC now owns 156,400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $21,239,000 after buying an additional 18,400 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth approximately $1,052,000. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new position in Hess in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,042,000. Finally, Westchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hess by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,731,692 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $235,164,000 after acquiring an additional 200,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

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.