LGT Group Foundation Sells 4,655 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

LGT Group Foundation reduced its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 33.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,135 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 4,655 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HBK Investments L P increased its position in Hess by 16.7% in 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hess by 1.1% in 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Hess by 58.9% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,391,311 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Hess by 31.0% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 785,270 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Hess by 46.3% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 927,093 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hess Price Performance

Hess stock opened at $143.83 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.75. The stock has a market cap of $44.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 1.17. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. 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 (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio 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.