Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 1,398 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 58,768 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,398 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Hess were worth $7,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Hess by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Hess by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Hess by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Hess by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 629 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hess Price Performance

NYSE HES opened at $156.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The company has a market capitalization of $48.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $146.73 and its 200-day moving average is $140.78.

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

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

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.