Great Lakes Advisors LLC Has $1.23 Million Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,246 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 138 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 798 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,982 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 19,120 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,543,000 after buying an additional 2,986 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 12,816 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,705,000 after buying an additional 1,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter worth $240,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hess Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $148.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $145.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.21. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $163.98.

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

Hess Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Monday, March 10th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.60.

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.