New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 23,841 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $3,171,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,186 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Hess during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a research note on Thursday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.60.

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Hess Stock Down 7.0 %

Hess stock traded down $11.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $148.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,557,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,859,561. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 1.21. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $148.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.58. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.