Huntington National Bank Buys 308 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 15.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,319 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Hess were worth $308,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hess by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Hess by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hess by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Hess by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 629 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES opened at $133.89 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. 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 company has a market cap of $41.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $148.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.66.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on HES. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.60.

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.