Nuveen Asset Management LLC Has $196.36 Million Stock Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,476,294 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 70,680 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $196,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of HES. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 3.5% in the fourth 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. lifted its stake in Hess by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hess by 5.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hess by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 629 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on HES. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total value of $27,877,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 9.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES opened at $134.97 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $139.44 and a 200-day moving average of $141.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $41.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 0.61. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $161.69.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.66%.

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.