Artemis Investment Management LLP Takes Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 29,943 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $3,983,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Clarius Group LLC grew its position in shares of Hess by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 2,252 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Hess by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,160 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,149,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Hess by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,493 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,420 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total value of $13,729,733.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 229,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,914,927. The trade was a 28.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $151.33 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $140.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.51. The firm has a market cap of $46.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess's payout ratio is 23.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on HES. UBS Group raised their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.50.

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.