CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 539 Shares of Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES)

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its position in Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) by 36.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 930 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 539 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Hess were worth $149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HES. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,838,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $244,483,000 after buying an additional 82,703 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Hess by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 43,085 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,731,000 after acquiring an additional 1,861 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hess by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 333,056 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,300,000 after acquiring an additional 42,797 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 76.2% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,188 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Capital Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 95.5% in the fourth quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 14,844 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 7,252 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Hess from $151.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective 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. Mizuho lowered their target price on Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on Hess from $163.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Hess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.16.

Hess Stock Down 0.6%

HES stock opened at $143.50 on Friday. Hess Corporation has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $161.69. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85 and a beta of 0.62.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.14). Hess had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 17.65%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hess Corporation will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.66%.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 650,000 shares of company stock worth $91,845,500. 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.