New York Life Investment Management LLC Purchases 288 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,159 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 288 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $4,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Carlson Capital L.P. lifted its position in shares of Hess by 194.0% during the 4th quarter. Carlson Capital L.P. now owns 29,400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,910,000 after buying an additional 19,400 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Hess by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $233,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position 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 worth $389,787,000 after buying an additional 927,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of Hess by 80.0% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 423 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Up 1.4 %

Hess stock opened at $149.04 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.62.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. On average, analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 22.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on HES shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised 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 upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. 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 research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess presently 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.