Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Acquired by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund 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 approximately 0.11% of Hess worth $4,408,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Hess during the 4th quarter worth $3,117,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter worth about $2,274,000. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Hess by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 59,927 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,971,000 after acquiring an additional 3,625 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Hess by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,838,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $244,483,000 after acquiring an additional 82,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Hess by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 43,085 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,731,000 after purchasing an additional 1,861 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on HES. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.60.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES opened at $157.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.10. The stock has a market cap of $48.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.49 and a beta of 1.21. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.