Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Sells 450,374 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 99.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,207 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 450,374 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HES. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 3,680.0% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC raised its stake in Hess by 44.3% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 6,941 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 2,130 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Hess by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,257 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter worth $1,947,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter worth about $969,000. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Thursday, April 25th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.42.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction of $153,480.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,257,071.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Hess news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction of $153,480.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,257,071.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $390,348.52. Following the completion of the sale, 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 quarter, insiders sold 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of Hess stock opened at $157.49 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $151.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.19. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $124.27 and a 52 week high of $167.75. The company has a market capitalization of $48.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12 and a beta of 1.27.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $3.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $1.43. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.98 billion. Hess had a net margin of 17.41% and a return on equity of 22.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.80%.

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.