Bridgewater Associates LP Buys 44,746 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 107.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 86,502 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,746 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Hess were worth $11,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cynosure Group LLC raised its holdings in Hess by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 8,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Hess in the 3rd quarter worth $298,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Hess by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 397,926 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $54,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,287 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Hess during the third quarter valued at about $114,000. Finally, Prospector Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Hess by 0.7% in the third quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 59,983 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $8,146,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total value of $13,729,733.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 229,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,914,927. The trade was a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $146.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.34. The company has a market cap of $45.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Hess’s payout ratio is 23.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wolfe Research raised Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.30.

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.