Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Has $54.22 Million Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 407,618 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 22,546 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Hess worth $54,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,141,244 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,408,117,000 after purchasing an additional 296,406 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Hess by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,695,533 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $888,240,000 after buying an additional 158,371 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Hess by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,844,257 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $511,325,000 after buying an additional 91,131 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Hess by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,498,458 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $465,330,000 after buying an additional 179,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $389,787,000 after buying an additional 927,093 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of Hess 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $133.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 0.88. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.66.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.