Toronto Dominion Bank Grows Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 191,453 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 57,546 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned approximately 0.06% of Hess worth $25,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hess in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,054,000. Calamos Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Hess by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 590,326 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $87,085,000 after acquiring an additional 15,684 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Hess by 255.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,836 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 4,911 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Hess by 295.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 84,277 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,445,000 after acquiring an additional 62,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,052,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total value of $18,385,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,047,849.52. The trade was a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 over the last ninety days. 9.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HES has been the subject of several research reports. Susquehanna increased their target price on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Hess Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $141.07 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $141.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 1.17.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Hess 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.