Avestar Capital LLC Sells 168 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Avestar Capital LLC lessened its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 9.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,560 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 168 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Prospector Partners LLC grew its stake in Hess by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 59,983 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $8,146,000 after buying an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Hess by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,629,098 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $217,664,000 after buying an additional 179,129 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Hess by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,878 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,601,000 after buying an additional 3,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its stake in Hess by 759.5% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 25,096 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,408,000 after buying an additional 22,176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at $31,791,753.09. This represents a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 over the last three months. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $146.76 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week 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. The company has a market capitalization of $45.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $140.00 and a 200-day moving average of $142.34.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HES. Susquehanna lifted their price objective 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. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.30.

About Hess

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.