5,931 Shares in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Purchased by Kiker Wealth Management LLC

Kiker Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,931 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $789,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Hess in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of Hess by 22.7% during 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 bought a new stake in Hess in the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hess during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES opened at $157.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.49 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day moving average is $146.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.66. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.