Readystate Asset Management LP Purchases New Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 144,032 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $20,764,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC increased its stake in Hess by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 3,015 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in Hess by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 319 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hess by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 403 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam grew its stake in shares of Hess by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Ossiam now owns 8,093 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hess by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,667 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 2,701 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $390,348.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 162,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,433,050.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $153,480.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,257,071.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 2,701 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $390,348.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 162,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,433,050.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 155,798 shares of company stock valued at $22,811,166. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Hess from $152.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Hess from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.67.

Hess Price Performance

Hess stock traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $150.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,278,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,612,592. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $46.46 billion, a PE ratio of 33.51 and a beta of 1.27. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $124.27 and a 52 week high of $167.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $149.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.76.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 7.77 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s payout ratio is 38.89%.

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.