Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Has $193,000 Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 61.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,478 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 562 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 12.5% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess by 134.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 3,524 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its position in Hess by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 536,382 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $72,841,000 after buying an additional 56,392 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Hess by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 103,478 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,052,000 after buying an additional 2,598 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Hess by 16.2% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,915 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HES has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Six research 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.60.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $141.43 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $143.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.80. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

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 $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 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.