Oak Thistle LLC Purchases 2,625 Shares of Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES)

Oak Thistle LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 71.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,322 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 2,625 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC's holdings in Hess were worth $1,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Hess from $147.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $162.78.

Hess Stock Up 7.6%

NYSE:HES traded up $11.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $160.31. 104,703 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,867,605. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $141.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.12. 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 fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $161.69. The firm has a market cap of $49.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17 and a beta of 0.62.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Corporation will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $34,002,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,734,679 shares in the company, valued at $235,933,690.79. The trade was a 12.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.