Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Acquired by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 300,631 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,354 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of Hess worth $39,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HES. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Hess by 134.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $834,000 after acquiring an additional 3,524 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter worth about $496,000. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Hess by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,011 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Hess by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 11,871 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Hess by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 41,224 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,598,000 after purchasing an additional 3,141 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. 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 Monday, March 10th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. 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, Hess currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.60.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES opened at $148.21 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 1.21. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. 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.