Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Stock Position Raised by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 51.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,753 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 4,345 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Hess were worth $2,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. OLD National Bancorp IN acquired a new position in Hess in the first quarter worth about $201,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Hess by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,142 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of Hess by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,496 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Breakwater Capital Group increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 2,575 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Hess by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Hess Stock Performance

HES stock traded up $0.16 on Thursday, reaching $140.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 301,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,793,315. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $161.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $43.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $132.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.23.

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

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Hess's payout ratio is 27.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 225,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.18, for a total value of $29,965,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,984,679 shares in the company, valued at $264,319,549.22. This represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 650,000 shares of company stock worth $91,845,500. 9.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hess to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Hess from $163.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Hess from $151.00 to $147.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $163.16.

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.