Perpetual Ltd Reduces Stake in Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES)

Perpetual Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 178,387 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 1,963 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd owned approximately 0.06% of Hess worth $28,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Hess by 16,134.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,546,506 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,470,230,000 after buying an additional 1,536,980 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Hess by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $389,787,000 after acquiring an additional 927,093 shares during the last quarter. Symmetry Investments LP boosted its stake in Hess by 154.1% in the fourth quarter. Symmetry Investments LP now owns 1,381,076 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $183,697,000 after acquiring an additional 837,662 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in Hess by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 11,438,985 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,521,499,000 after acquiring an additional 698,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 164.1% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 769,042 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $102,290,000 after purchasing an additional 477,796 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 225,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.18, for a total transaction of $29,965,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,984,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,319,549.22. The trade was a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HES. Mizuho reduced their target price on Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Hess from $163.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hess presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $162.26.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $140.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $43.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38 and a beta of 0.62. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $134.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.95. Hess Corporation has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $161.69.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 17.65%. Hess's revenue for the quarter was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hess Corporation will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. 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.

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