Jones Financial Companies Lllp Sells 1,804 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lessened its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 20.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,983 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,804 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Hess were worth $929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. HBK Investments L P increased its position in Hess by 16.7% in the third quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $966,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,720 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hess by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,537,162 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $884,709,000 after purchasing an additional 74,085 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Hess by 58.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $509,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,311 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Hess by 31.0% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 785,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Hess by 46.3% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 927,093 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HES has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. 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, Hess currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.60.

Hess Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of HES opened at $147.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41 and a beta of 1.21. 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $143.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.92.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

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.