GAMMA Investing LLC Takes $969,000 Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,893 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $969,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 70,910 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,222,000 after buying an additional 13,542 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter valued at about $295,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in Hess by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,050 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $728,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Hess by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 25,520 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,679,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Hess by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hess Stock Up 0.5 %

Hess stock traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $156.98. 2,446,318 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,567,498. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $48.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.88 and a beta of 1.27. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $124.27 and a 1-year high of $167.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $150.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.93.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. Hess had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th were given a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on HES. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction of $153,480.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,215 shares in the company, valued at $7,257,071.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Hess news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction of $153,480.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,257,071.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total value of $2,103,184.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares in the company, valued at $5,073,417.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 155,798 shares of company stock valued at $22,811,166. 9.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.