Courier Capital LLC Sells 325 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Courier Capital LLC decreased its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 18.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,437 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 325 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in Hess by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 293 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HES has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Hess from $151.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Hess to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.16.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 225,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.18, for a total value of $29,965,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,984,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,319,549.22. This represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 650,000 shares of company stock worth $91,845,500. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hess Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of HES stock opened at $138.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $140.22. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $161.69. The company has a market cap of $42.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Hess’s payout ratio is 27.66%.

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.