Breakwater Capital Group Has $313,000 Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Breakwater Capital Group lifted its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,350 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group’s holdings in Hess were worth $313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in Hess by 22.7% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 4,186 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Hess by 59.8% in 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. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in Hess by 157.2% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Hess Trading Up 1.2 %

HES stock opened at $146.59 on Wednesday. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The company has a market capitalization of $45.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.09 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.41. 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) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In related news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

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.