Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Cuts Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. trimmed its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,936 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 389 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Hess were worth $790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 780.9% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 16,358 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 14,501 shares during the period. Decagon Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at about $24,386,000. Birnam Oak Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at about $17,998,000. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 6,657 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on HES. 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. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.60.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES opened at $156.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $48.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $146.73 and a 200-day moving average of $140.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98.

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

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

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.