V Square Quantitative Management LLC Acquires 414 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,598 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter worth $2,274,000. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Hess by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 59,927 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,971,000 after purchasing an additional 3,625 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hess by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,213,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $169,767,000 after purchasing an additional 208,996 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter worth $1,513,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in Hess by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 19,235 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,558,000 after acquiring an additional 4,891 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hess Stock Up 0.5 %

HES stock opened at $146.65 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $45.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29 and a beta of 1.17. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.93.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total transaction of $18,385,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 217,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,047,849.52. This represents a 36.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 9.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.