First Horizon Advisors Inc. Has $213,000 Stock Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,571 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 717 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hess were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of Hess by 1.6% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 16,044 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,179,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hess by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 1,720,196 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $233,603,000 after purchasing an additional 56,396 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at $8,435,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Hess in the third quarter worth $2,577,000. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 2.4% during the third quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hess Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $148.65 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.69. 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 $45.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.31%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Mizuho dropped their price objective 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.