Flputnam Investment Management Co. Buys 123 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Hess were worth $434,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HES. HBK Investments L P grew its holdings in Hess by 16.7% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,017,720 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.1% during 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake 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 valued at $509,675,000 after buying an additional 1,391,311 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 785,270 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Hess by 46.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 927,093 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $143.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $44.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.75. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research report on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of 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. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hess 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.