BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Decreases Stock Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lowered its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,272 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 6,670 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Hess were worth $6,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Hess by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hess by 47.6% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hess in the 2nd quarter worth $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HES shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $164.50.

Hess Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:HES traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $147.26. 1,086,074 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,560,467. The company has a fifty day moving average of $140.72 and a 200 day moving average of $141.89. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The company has a market capitalization of $45.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The company's revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Hess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Hess's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This trade 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 valued at $45,856,309. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company's stock.

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.