National Bank of Canada FI Sells 187,521 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

National Bank of Canada FI cut its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 36.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 322,816 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 187,521 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.10% of Hess worth $42,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HES. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Hess in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in Hess by 22.7% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.76% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE:HES traded down $14.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $133.89. The stock had a trading volume of 3,995,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,873,512. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $41.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 0.88. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $148.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.66.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Hess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.22%.

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.