Allstate Corp Makes New Investment in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 8,308 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $1,105,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Hess in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in Hess by 22.7% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hess during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hess Trading Down 6.5 %

NYSE:HES traded down $10.41 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $149.61. 2,928,917 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,864,318. The company has a market capitalization of $46.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company's 50 day moving average is $148.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.58. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98.

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

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Hess's dividend payout ratio is 22.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a report on Thursday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup increased 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, Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.60.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 2,384,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.76% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.