5,746 Shares in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Bought by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 5,746 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $764,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position 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 during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its position 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 during the period. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hess in the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its position in Hess by 157.2% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup increased their target price 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 increased their target price on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a research report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.60.

Hess Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $148.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.33. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.53 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. 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.