Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Short Interest Update

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES – Get Rating) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,330,000 shares, a decline of 7.5% from the December 15th total of 5,760,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other Hess news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 37,419 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.21, for a total transaction of $5,545,869.99. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,346,554.67. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 53,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.45, for a total transaction of $7,724,925.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 78,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,251,357.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 37,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.21, for a total transaction of $5,545,869.99. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,346,554.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hess

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Hess by 280.0% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 228 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank purchased a new position in Hess in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Orion Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Hess by 63.4% in the fourth quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 214 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake in Hess by 92.3% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 300 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in Hess in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 86.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HES. Mizuho lowered shares of Hess from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $164.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Wednesday, October 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Susquehanna Bancshares boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $144.00 to $166.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.00.

Hess Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of HES stock traded down $1.84 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $153.32. 632,799 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,535,760. The business’s fifty day moving average is $142.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Hess has a 12-month low of $85.50 and a 12-month high of $156.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.82 and a beta of 1.55.

Hess (NYSE:HES – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 26th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.01. Hess had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 25.57%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Hess will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 19th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 16th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Hess’s payout ratio is 24.96%.

Hess Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Hess Corp is an exploration and production company, which engages in exploration, development, production, transportation, purchase & sale of crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas with production operations. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production and Midstream.