Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $244.48 Million Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,838,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 82,703 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.60% of Hess worth $244,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Hess by 134.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 3,524 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Hess by 2.6% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 103,478 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,598 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Hess by 16.2% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,915 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 9.8% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,026 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HES shares. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.60.

Hess Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of HES opened at $143.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 1.21. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $143.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.83.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.