Bank of New York Mellon Corp Buys 927,093 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 46.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 927,093 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.95% of Hess worth $389,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Hess by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,186 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Hess by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 157.2% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on HES. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.60.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $145.42 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.47. The company has a market cap of $44.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.