V Square Quantitative Management LLC Boosts Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,598 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Hess by 58.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,391,311 shares in the last quarter. HBK Investments L P boosted its position in shares of Hess by 16.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $450,696,000 after purchasing an additional 785,270 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter valued at approximately $75,126,000. Finally, ING Groep NV boosted its position in shares of Hess by 267.8% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 533,264 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $72,417,000 after purchasing an additional 388,273 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Stock Up 0.5 %

Hess stock opened at $146.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.93. 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.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. Equities analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total value of $13,729,733.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,914,927. The trade was a 28.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HES has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a research note on Friday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Six 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.