Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 296,406 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,141,244 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 296,406 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.76% of Hess worth $4,408,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of HES. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in Hess during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 22.7% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,186 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Hess in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hess during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $157.43 on Tuesday. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.49 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.10.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Hess’s dividend 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.