King Luther Capital Management Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,816 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,469 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Hess during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in Hess by 22.7% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Hess by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HES shares. Citigroup upped 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. UBS Group upped their price target on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.60.

Hess Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $143.79 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.10. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. 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 stock has a market cap of $44.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 1.21.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released 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 net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.