Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 5.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,099 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 3,913 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Hess were worth $10,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of HES. Alpine Associates Management Inc. bought a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at $237,100,000. Westchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Hess during the 4th quarter valued at about $213,336,000. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd purchased a new stake in Hess in the 4th quarter worth about $110,423,000. Water Island Capital LLC bought a new stake in Hess in the fourth quarter worth about $76,714,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Hess by 19.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,951,451 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $451,572,000 after buying an additional 489,169 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HES. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Hess from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.83.

Hess Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:HES traded down $2.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $146.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 527,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,462,375. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $151.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $149.00. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $129.12 and a 52 week high of $167.75. The company has a market capitalization of $45.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $3.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $1.43. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. Hess had a net margin of 17.41% and a return on equity of 22.73%. Hess’s revenue was up 36.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 10.28 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Hess’s payout ratio is 26.80%.

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.