Amalgamated Bank Sells 1,257 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Amalgamated Bank reduced its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,257 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Hess were worth $7,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 buying an additional 1,391,311 shares during the period. HBK Investments L P raised its position in shares of Hess by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $966,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017,720 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 46.3% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 927,093 shares during the period. 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. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Hess in the third quarter worth $75,126,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HES. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.60.

Hess Trading Down 1.0 %

Hess stock opened at $145.42 on Thursday. Hess Co. has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $141.84 and its 200 day moving average is $139.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 1.17.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Hess’s dividend 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.