Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 192.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,921 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 49,999 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Hess were worth $10,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HES. Interval Partners LP acquired a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter worth $2,523,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its position in shares of Hess by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 9,748 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,297,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hess by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 160,063 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $21,290,000 after buying an additional 20,984 shares during the last quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. raised its stake in shares of Hess by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. now owns 39,382 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $5,238,000 after buying an additional 5,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Hess by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 1,652,543 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $219,805,000 after buying an additional 386,223 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HES has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $162.16.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 9.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hess Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Hess stock traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $134.97. 1,643,714 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,810,920. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $161.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $139.71 and a 200-day moving average of $141.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 0.61.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Hess's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.66%.

Hess 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.