Ellsworth Advisors LLC Has $669,000 Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,029 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HES. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hess by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 140,487 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $20,725,000 after buying an additional 32,081 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 71.3% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,492 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 9,363 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 12,295 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its position in Hess by 1.8% during the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 11,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,675,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Hess by 7.2% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,698 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Hess Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $151.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $140.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.51. Hess Co. has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $46.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.18.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. Analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. Insiders own 9.76% 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.