California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 430,210 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 56.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 335,080 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 430,210 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.11% of Hess worth $44,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,117,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hess in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,274,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Hess by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,838,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $244,483,000 after acquiring an additional 82,703 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Hess by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 43,085 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,731,000 after acquiring an additional 1,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hess by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 333,056 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,300,000 after acquiring an additional 42,797 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hess Trading Up 0.9%

Hess stock opened at $132.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73 and a beta of 0.61. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $161.69.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.14). Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HES. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Hess from $151.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on Hess in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.16.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

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.