Wolverine Asset Management LLC Makes New $1.95 Million Investment in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Wolverine Asset Management LLC 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 SEC. The institutional investor purchased 13,505 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,947,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Hess in the fourth quarter valued at about $969,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Hess by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 70,910 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,222,000 after acquiring an additional 13,542 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $295,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,050 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of Hess by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 25,520 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,679,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler increased their price target 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. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 138,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,234,794.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total value of $10,777,604.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,234,794.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $153,480.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,257,071.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 155,798 shares of company stock valued at $22,811,166. 9.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $159.13 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $49.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.36 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $150.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $124.27 and a 12 month high of $167.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. Hess had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 18th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.89%.

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.