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

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,844,257 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 91,131 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Hess were worth $511,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in Hess by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 4,186 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Hess during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $159.96 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $49.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $147.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.23. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total value of $27,877,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HES. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.60.

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.