Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Bought by Quent Capital LLC

Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,050 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 137 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HES. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at $92,000. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 18.5% in the third quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 222,186 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,173,000 after purchasing an additional 34,709 shares in the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hess in the third quarter valued at $602,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 29,357 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,987,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a report on Thursday, February 6th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total value of $13,729,733.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,914,927. This trade represents a 28.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $144.95 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $44.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 1.17. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.85.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

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.