Wellington Management Group LLP Grows Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,844,257 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 91,131 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 1.25% of Hess worth $511,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Hess in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in Hess by 22.7% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $159.96 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $49.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 1.21. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.23.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share 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, equities analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HES has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup raised 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. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.