Amundi Sells 459,128 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Amundi lowered its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 21.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,706,282 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 459,128 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.55% of Hess worth $238,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HES. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 59.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $147.73 on Monday. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $45.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.94.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. On average, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HES. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.60.

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.