Kiker Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Kiker Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,931 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $789,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Hess by 780.9% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 16,358 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,176,000 after acquiring an additional 14,501 shares during the last quarter. Decagon Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at $24,386,000. Birnam Oak Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,998,000. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its position in shares of Hess by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 6,657 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $885,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HES. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Six equities research 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.60.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $157.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day moving average of $146.45 and a 200-day moving average of $140.66. 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.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Hess Company 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.