Deutsche Bank AG Has $94.68 Million Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 711,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,528 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.23% of Hess worth $94,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Hess by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Hess by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Hess by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Hess by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 629 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total value of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. This represents a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Up 0.9%

HES stock opened at $132.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $40.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $161.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.46.

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

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.66%.

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.