Neuberger Berman Group LLC Has $99.03 Million Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 67.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 744,536 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 299,041 shares during the quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC owned 0.24% of Hess worth $99,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HES. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in Hess by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,648 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 26.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 39,361 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,346,000 after purchasing an additional 8,174 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in Hess by 86.5% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Hess by 1.5% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,098 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,100,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Hess in the third quarter worth about $454,000. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HES. UBS Group raised their price objective on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were 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 approximately $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $138.11 on Thursday. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.63. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. 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.