BCK Capital Management LP Purchases New Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

BCK Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,225,000. Hess accounts for about 1.2% of BCK Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 6.5% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,944 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 8.8% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 11,077 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 114.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 229,666 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $35,139,000 after purchasing an additional 122,350 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Hess by 3.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 22,239 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,403,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new stake in Hess in the third quarter worth about $231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total value of $2,103,184.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total transaction of $2,103,184.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total value of $10,777,604.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,234,794.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 155,798 shares of company stock valued at $22,811,166. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Hess Price Performance

Hess stock traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $159.40. 3,500,940 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,654,481. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $124.27 and a 52-week high of $167.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $152.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $49.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.41 and a beta of 1.24.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $3.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $1.43. Hess had a return on equity of 22.73% and a net margin of 17.41%. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 36.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.80%.

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.