Drive Wealth Management LLC Sells 378 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Drive Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 8.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,221 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 378 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 34.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $418,291,000 after buying an additional 726,631 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Hess by 76.4% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,532,132 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $227,273,000 after purchasing an additional 663,338 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Hess by 64.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,449,969 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $218,220,000 after purchasing an additional 567,550 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Hess by 45.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,794,087 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $264,664,000 after purchasing an additional 561,832 shares during the period. Finally, Sculptor Capital LP lifted its holdings in Hess by 188.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 765,542 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $112,933,000 after purchasing an additional 500,342 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $145.64 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $44.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.97 and a beta of 1.15. 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 $136.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.87. 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 (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. Hess’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. Research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HES. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research note on Monday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.30.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.