New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 2,995 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 234,771 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,995 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.08% of Hess worth $31,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Hess in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in Hess by 22.7% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 4,186 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Hess by 59.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hess in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new position in Hess in the third quarter worth about $48,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hess Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:HES opened at $151.19 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $46.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80 and a beta of 1.17.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HES shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Friday, February 14th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Six 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.