Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Has $2.98 Million Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 40.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,806 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,542 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Hess were worth $2,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HBK Investments L P grew its stake in shares of Hess by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $966,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,720 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hess by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,537,162 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $884,709,000 after acquiring an additional 74,085 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Hess by 58.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $509,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391,311 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Hess by 31.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $450,696,000 after acquiring an additional 785,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 2.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,755,376 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $238,380,000 after acquiring an additional 43,061 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on HES shares. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total transaction of $18,385,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,047,849.52. The trade was a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of HES opened at $142.99 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.06 billion, a PE ratio of 15.89 and a beta of 1.17. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.