Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank cut its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 133,207 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,755 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Hess were worth $18,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HES. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 72,362 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $11,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 1st quarter worth $275,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Hess by 424.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,466 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,971,000 after acquiring an additional 15,757 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its position in Hess by 23.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 4,415 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Hess by 47.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HES. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $163.30.

Hess Stock Performance

Hess stock opened at $147.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $140.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.25. The company has a market capitalization of $45.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14 and a beta of 1.15. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 23.31%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.