Venturi Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 215.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,205 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. HBK Investments L P increased its stake in shares of Hess by 16.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,017,720 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,537,162 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $884,709,000 after buying an additional 74,085 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Hess by 58.9% in the 3rd 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 grew its stake in Hess by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $450,696,000 after buying an additional 785,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Hess by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,755,376 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $238,380,000 after acquiring an additional 43,061 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on HES shares. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Friday, February 14th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.60.

Hess Stock Performance

Hess stock opened at $151.19 on Friday. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $140.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.92. The stock has a market cap of $46.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80 and a beta of 1.17. 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 (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

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.