Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 2,067 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Janus Henderson Group PLC reduced its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,857 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 2,067 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC's holdings in Hess were worth $8,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.9% during the fourth 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 holdings in shares of Hess by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hess Stock Down 1.4%

HES traded down $1.83 on Wednesday, hitting $130.22. The company had a trading volume of 907,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,800,239. 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 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $161.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 0.61.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.16 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 1.54%. Hess's payout ratio is 27.66%.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Wednesday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $151.00 to $147.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $162.16.

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.