NEOS Investment Management LLC Has $2.11 Million Stock Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 30.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,853 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,732 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $2,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 22.7% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 4,186 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on HES shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock 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 raised their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.60.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $158.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $48.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 1.21. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.79.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. 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.