Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Has $530,000 Stock Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,982 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HES. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 134.6% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Hess during the third quarter valued at $496,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Hess by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 41,224 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,598,000 after acquiring an additional 3,141 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hess by 45.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 266,277 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,160,000 after acquiring an additional 83,814 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Hess by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 16,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 2,630 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $150.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71 and a beta of 1.21. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $145.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.32. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98.

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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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