CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Has $23.01 Million Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co trimmed its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 173,073 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 13,096 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.06% of Hess worth $23,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Hess in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Hess during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hess during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in Hess by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 293 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HES shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.26.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES opened at $130.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 0.88.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. Research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

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

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.