Mather Group LLC. Acquires 208 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 56.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 208 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Hess were worth $77,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. HBK Investments L P grew its position in shares of Hess by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $966,600,000 after buying an additional 1,017,720 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,537,162 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $884,709,000 after purchasing an additional 74,085 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Hess by 58.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $509,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,311 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Hess by 31.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $450,696,000 after purchasing an additional 785,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hess by 2.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,755,376 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $238,380,000 after purchasing an additional 43,061 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on HES. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Hess Stock Up 0.7 %

HES stock opened at $142.99 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $140.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.07. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $44.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.89 and a beta of 1.17.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. Equities analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total transaction of $13,729,733.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 229,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,914,927. This represents a 28.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

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.