Bank of New York Mellon Corp Purchases 927,093 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 46.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 927,093 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.95% of Hess worth $389,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. HBK Investments L P lifted its stake in Hess by 16.7% during the third quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $966,600,000 after buying an additional 1,017,720 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,537,162 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $884,709,000 after acquiring an additional 74,085 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Hess by 58.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $509,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,311 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Hess by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $450,696,000 after purchasing an additional 785,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Hess by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,755,376 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $238,380,000 after purchasing an additional 43,061 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Hess Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE HES traded up $2.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $149.04. 2,402,219 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,939,621. The company has a market capitalization of $45.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.65. 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.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) 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 return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Hess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Sunday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a "hold" rating in a 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 MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.60.

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.