Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Invests $2.27 Million in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 17,099 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,274,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Hess by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 14,348 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,908,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter worth about $329,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Hess by 158.9% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,659 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 4,701 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Hess by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,091 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Hess by 44.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,760 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on HES shares. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Hess Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $145.77 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total value of $12,890,115.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 in the last 90 days. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.