New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Lowers Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board reduced its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,153 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. HBK Investments L P boosted its position in shares of Hess by 16.7% during the third quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $966,600,000 after buying an additional 1,017,720 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,537,162 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $884,709,000 after buying an additional 74,085 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Hess by 58.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $509,675,000 after buying an additional 1,391,311 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Hess by 31.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $450,696,000 after buying an additional 785,270 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hess by 2.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,755,376 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $238,380,000 after buying an additional 43,061 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total value of $13,729,733.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,914,927. The trade was a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Up 0.5 %

Hess stock opened at $146.65 on Monday. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $45.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $140.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.84.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on HES. StockNews.com began coverage on Hess in a research report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.60.

About Hess

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.