Prospector Partners LLC Purchases 99 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Prospector Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 60,082 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $7,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at $298,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Hess during the third quarter valued at about $294,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Hess by 12.5% during the third 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. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Hess by 11.0% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 121,162 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $16,454,000 after acquiring an additional 12,020 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Hess by 33.2% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 26,674 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,622,000 after acquiring an additional 6,653 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total value of $27,877,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,879,364.70. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 9.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.60.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $133.89 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. 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 stock has a market cap of $41.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $148.37 and a 200 day moving average of $142.74.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Hess Profile

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.