Howard Capital Management Inc. Acquires 90 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 90 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Hess were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. HBK Investments L P grew its position 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 worth $966,600,000 after buying an additional 1,017,720 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $884,709,000 after buying an additional 74,085 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position 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 worth $509,675,000 after buying an additional 1,391,311 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position 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 worth $450,696,000 after buying an additional 785,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hess by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,755,376 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $238,380,000 after buying an additional 43,061 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Down 1.2 %

Hess stock opened at $147.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $141.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. Hess Co. has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $45.30 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 1.17.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 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, research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HES. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.60.

Hess Profile

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.