Bailard Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES)

Bailard Inc. cut its holdings in Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 9.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,852 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 1,838 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.'s holdings in Hess were worth $2,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HES. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Hess by 106.2% in the first quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the first quarter worth $33,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 293 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 250,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $34,002,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,734,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $235,933,690.79. The trade was a 12.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 9.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HES. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Hess from $147.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Hess and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $162.78.

Hess Trading Up 7.6%

Shares of Hess stock traded up $11.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $160.31. 104,703 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,863,440. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Hess Corporation has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $161.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.49.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 17.65% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.16 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Hess Corporation will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Hess's payout ratio is currently 27.66%.

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.