Confluence Investment Management LLC Buys 303 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,862 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Hess by 1.6% in the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,599 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Hess by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Hess by 16.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 540 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Hess by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,771 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Hess by 0.6% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,629 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,158,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total value of $12,890,115.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HES. Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.30.

Hess Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $142.18 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $135.65 and a 200-day moving average of $143.67. The company has a market capitalization of $43.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 23.31%.

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.