OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Purchases 1,982 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 731,050 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,982 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp owned about 0.24% of Hess worth $97,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Hess by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hess by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Hess by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 629 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on HES. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.46.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE HES opened at $135.03 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $161.69. The stock has a market cap of $41.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $140.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.44.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.14). Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Hess’s payout ratio is 27.66%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

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.