Calamos Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 101.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 577,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 290,245 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC owned about 0.19% of Hess worth $83,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HES. Raymond James Trust N.A. bought a new stake in Hess during the 1st quarter valued at $446,000. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 17.1% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,276 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 3.7% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 114,120 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $12,216,000 after purchasing an additional 4,027 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in shares of Hess in the first quarter worth $410,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 2.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,928,530 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,310,590,000 after purchasing an additional 667,979 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HES has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Hess from $152.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.75.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE:HES traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $151.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,002,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,590,674. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $149.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $124.27 and a 52-week high of $167.75. The company has a market capitalization of $46.76 billion, a PE ratio of 33.65 and a beta of 1.27.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. Hess had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 38.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 1,062 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction 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 approximately $7,257,071.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166 in the last three months. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

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.