Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Has $450,000 Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,384 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HES. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Hess by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess by 157.2% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on HES shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note 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. According to MarketBeat, Hess currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.60.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE HES opened at $147.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. Research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Hess’s dividend 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.