Ethic Inc. Has $1.69 Million Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Ethic Inc. grew its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 25.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,688 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 2,545 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Hess were worth $1,688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in Hess by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hess by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,971 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Hess by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Hess by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 629 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on HES. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hess has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $164.46.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of Hess stock opened at $135.03 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Hess Co. has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $161.69.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.14). Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.16 EPS. The company's revenue was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Hess's payout ratio is 27.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total value of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $379,879,364.70. This represents a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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