Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Invests $259,000 in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,947 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings 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 worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.60.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE HES opened at $147.73 on Friday. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.92.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. 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.