Caprock Group LLC Has $590,000 Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,435 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $590,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in HES. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Hess by 58.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $509,675,000 after buying an additional 1,391,311 shares during the last quarter. HBK Investments L P raised its position in Hess by 16.7% in the third quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $966,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,720 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Hess by 31.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $450,696,000 after purchasing an additional 785,270 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Hess in the third quarter worth about $75,126,000. Finally, ING Groep NV raised its position in Hess by 267.8% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 533,264 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $72,417,000 after purchasing an additional 388,273 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on HES shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Hess Price Performance

HES opened at $142.86 on Wednesday. Hess Co. has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 1.17.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Hess 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.