National Pension Service Sells 159,824 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

National Pension Service reduced its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 29.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 376,558 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 159,824 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.12% of Hess worth $50,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HES. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in Hess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Hess by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $389,787,000 after acquiring an additional 927,093 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in Hess by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 423 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Hess by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Outfitter Financial LLC boosted its stake in Hess by 76.8% in the fourth quarter. Outfitter Financial LLC now owns 17,055 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after acquiring an additional 7,410 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of 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 raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.60.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $146.88 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $45.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32 and a beta of 1.17. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $142.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.52.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. Analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given 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 presently 22.22%.

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.