CENTRAL TRUST Co Reduces Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

CENTRAL TRUST Co cut its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 29.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,469 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Hess were worth $195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HES. HBK Investments L P boosted its holdings in Hess by 16.7% in the third quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $966,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,720 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hess by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,537,162 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $884,709,000 after purchasing an additional 74,085 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Hess by 58.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $509,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,311 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Hess by 31.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $450,696,000 after purchasing an additional 785,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Hess by 2.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,755,376 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $238,380,000 after purchasing an additional 43,061 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on HES shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $142.86 on Wednesday. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $44.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 1.17. 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 50-day moving average of $140.56 and a 200 day moving average of $139.09.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Hess 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.