Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Purchases New Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,754 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,186 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 157.2% in the 3rd 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. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hess Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $149.04 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $45.92 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 1.17.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HES has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus 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.