Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Short Interest Update

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,730,000 shares, a growth of 17.4% from the November 15th total of 4,880,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total value of $13,729,733.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 229,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,914,927. The trade was a 28.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Hess by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Hess in the third quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its position in Hess by 157.2% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hess Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:HES traded down $3.26 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $136.44. The stock had a trading volume of 385,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,053,351. The business’s 50 day moving average is $141.65 and its 200-day moving average is $141.35. The company has a market cap of $42.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 1.17. Hess has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on HES shares. 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

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.