Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 74 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,785 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 74 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 4,186 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Hess by 59.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hess during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Hess during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 157.2% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total value of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE HES opened at $151.33 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $140.48 and its 200 day moving average is $139.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 23.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

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.