Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Short Interest Update

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,540,000 shares, a growth of 25.9% from the March 15th total of 5,990,000 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HES shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research note on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Scotiabank reduced 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.26.

Hess Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of Hess stock traded down $5.61 on Monday, hitting $125.03. 612,135 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,887,260. The company has a market capitalization of $38.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average of $145.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.31. 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 has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98.

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 net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hess will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hess

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Hess by 106.2% during the first quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Hess in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hess during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 88.51% 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.