Atria Investments Inc Reduces Stock Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Atria Investments Inc reduced its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 30.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,619 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,162 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Hess were worth $348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in 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 worth $509,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391,311 shares in the last quarter. HBK Investments L P boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,017,720 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Hess by 46.3% in 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 last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Hess by 31.0% during 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 buying an additional 785,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Hess during the third quarter valued at $75,126,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HES has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a report 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. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a research note on Monday, March 10th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.60.

Hess Stock Up 3.0 %

NYSE HES opened at $148.21 on Monday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $145.18 and its 200 day moving average is $140.24. The stock has a market cap of $45.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 1.21.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 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%. Research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

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.