CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Has $23.01 Million Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lowered its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 173,073 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 13,096 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Hess were worth $23,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Hess in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Hess during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in shares of Hess by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 293 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research note on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total value of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Hess Price Performance

Hess stock opened at $130.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $145.14 and a 200-day moving average of $142.30.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

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.