Hess Co. (NYSE:HES – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,370,000 shares, a decrease of 8.9% from the August 31st total of 6,990,000 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.
Insider Transactions at Hess
In related news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.62, for a total transaction of $1,166,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 91,635 shares in the company, valued at $10,686,473.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.62, for a total value of $1,166,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 91,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,686,473.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.73, for a total transaction of $1,484,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 26,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,265,358.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.93% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Hess
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Hess by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 27,390 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,932,000 after acquiring an additional 2,066 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 563.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 657 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Hess by 155.8% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,860 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,447,000 after acquiring an additional 13,923 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Hess by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 41,906 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,486,000 after acquiring an additional 6,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Hess by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,634 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,138,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. 86.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Hess Stock Performance
HES stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $108.99. The company had a trading volume of 2,466,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,081,126. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.35. The company has a market cap of $33.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.14 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.69. Hess has a twelve month low of $68.32 and a twelve month high of $131.43.
Hess (NYSE:HES – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 27th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.60 billion. Hess had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 20.25%. Hess’s revenue for the quarter was up 87.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hess will post 8.96 earnings per share for the current year.
Hess Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 19th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is 31.85%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HES shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Hess from $135.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 29th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Hess from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Hess from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 19th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 31st. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $158.00 to $143.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.08.
About Hess
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.