Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,509 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Hess by 6.6% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Hess by 59.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 6.3% in the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on HES. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $138.88 on Tuesday. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (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, equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total transaction 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 $33,914,927. This trade represents a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.