Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $19.40 Million Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,841 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 12,634 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Hess were worth $19,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HES. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 valued at $509,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,311 shares in the last quarter. HBK Investments L P boosted its holdings 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Hess by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $389,787,000 after buying an additional 927,093 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Hess by 31.0% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 785,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at $75,126,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.60.

Hess Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $144.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.07. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. 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.