Advisors Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Advisors Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,194 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 3,869 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Qtron Investments LLC purchased a new position in Hess in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $346,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Hess by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,708 shares during the period. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Hess by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC now owns 89,093 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,850,000 after acquiring an additional 22,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 169.5% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 706 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HES. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Friday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $127.80 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $163.98. The company has a fifty day moving average of $146.37 and a 200-day moving average of $142.59.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

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.