Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 277 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 120,885 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 277 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Hess were worth $16,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Hess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 4,186 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HES shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.60.

Hess Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $156.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $146.73 and its 200 day moving average is $140.83. The company has a market cap of $48.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40 and a beta of 1.21.

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, 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, equities research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.