Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Reduces Stock Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,832 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Hess were worth $385,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Hess by 1.6% during 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 last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of 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. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hess by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,629 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,158,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in Hess by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total transaction of $18,385,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,047,849.52. The trade was a 36.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Hess Stock Down 3.1 %

HES stock opened at $135.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a fifty day moving average of $141.56 and a 200-day moving average of $141.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26. Hess Co. has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. Hess’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.