Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,917 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,084 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HES. HBK Investments L P grew its stake in shares of Hess by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $966,600,000 after buying an additional 1,017,720 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess by 1.1% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 74,085 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Hess by 58.9% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 1,391,311 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Hess by 31.0% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 785,270 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Hess by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $389,787,000 after buying an additional 927,093 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $156.59 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $146.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.78. The stock has a market cap of $48.28 billion, a P/E 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.

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

Hess Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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