Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by TD Private Client Wealth LLC

TD Private Client Wealth LLC trimmed its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 355 shares during the quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HES. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Hess by 19.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 16,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,224,000 after buying an additional 2,630 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its position in shares of Hess by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 16,044 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,179,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of Hess by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,575 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its stake in Hess by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 3,611 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Hess by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,755,376 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $238,380,000 after purchasing an additional 43,061 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on HES shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hess currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.60.

Hess Stock Down 0.5 %

HES stock opened at $156.59 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $48.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40 and a beta of 1.21. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.90.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

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.