Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) CEO Sells $27,877,500.00 in Stock

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Hess Price Performance

HES traded up $0.88 on Tuesday, reaching $160.61. The company had a trading volume of 687,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,855,744. 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 market cap of $49.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.84 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.23.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

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Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Hess's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CIBRA Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter valued at $14,324,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Hess by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,927 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $921,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the period. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co bought a new position in shares of Hess during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,210,000. Aegis Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 449.6% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 9,497 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 7,769 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Hess

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.