Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Sells 93 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 93 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Hess by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 134.6% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Hess by 11.7% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 536,382 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $72,841,000 after buying an additional 56,392 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Hess by 2.6% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 103,478 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,052,000 after buying an additional 2,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Hess by 16.2% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,915 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hess Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $141.43 on Thursday. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 1.21.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results 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%. Analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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