Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 2,595 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 36,473 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 2,595 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Hess were worth $4,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Hess by 134.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hess by 10,367.3% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 16,643 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,260,000 after buying an additional 16,484 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hess by 6.6% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 324.2% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Hess Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of HES opened at $143.79 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 1.21. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $144.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

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.