Global Retirement Partners LLC Sells 84 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Global Retirement Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 611 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 84 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $81,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. HBK Investments L P boosted its position 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 valued at $966,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017,720 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Hess by 58.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $509,675,000 after buying an additional 1,391,311 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in 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 worth $450,696,000 after buying an additional 785,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Hess by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,755,376 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $238,380,000 after buying an additional 43,061 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of Hess stock opened at $149.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Hess Co. has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.62.

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, 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%. Analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.34%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HES. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted 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 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.60.

Hess Company 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.