Wesbanco Bank Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,425 Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,425 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,054,000. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Hess by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 59,927 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,971,000 after acquiring an additional 3,625 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hess by 20.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,213,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $169,767,000 after acquiring an additional 208,996 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,052,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Hess by 295.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 84,277 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $11,445,000 after acquiring an additional 62,966 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total value of $18,385,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,047,849.52. The trade was a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hess Price Performance

HES stock opened at $144.32 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $141.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $44.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 1.18. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.50.

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.