Brooklyn Investment Group Purchases New Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 839 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $114,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Hess in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Hess by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess by 47.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth about $55,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $146.76 on Thursday. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. 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 has a market capitalization of $45.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.31.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The company 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HES shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wolfe Research raised 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. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.30.

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.