Choreo LLC Sells 456 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Choreo LLC cut its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,988 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 456 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 261.4% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,948 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Hess in the third quarter worth $92,000. Creative Planning grew its position in Hess by 1.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda boosted its stake in Hess by 18.5% in the third quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 222,186 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,173,000 after acquiring an additional 34,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $602,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $146.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32 and a beta of 1.17. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. Analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on HES. UBS Group upped their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna increased 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. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hess has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total transaction of $18,385,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 217,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,047,849.52. This represents a 36.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hess 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.