234,764 Shares in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 234,764 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $31,225,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Hess in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in shares of Hess by 22.7% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 4,186 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Hess by 59.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on HES shares. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.60.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES opened at $143.65 on Friday. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $144.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $44.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96 and a beta of 1.21.

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, beating 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Hess’s payout ratio is 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.