US Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

US Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,120 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 149 shares during the quarter. US Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Hess by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,126,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,903,793,000 after buying an additional 294,146 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 34.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $418,291,000 after acquiring an additional 726,631 shares during the period. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd boosted its position in shares of Hess by 44.0% in the first quarter. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd now owns 1,103,212 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $168,394,000 after acquiring an additional 337,238 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 31.7% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 909,089 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $138,763,000 after purchasing an additional 218,563 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Hess by 12.2% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 753,564 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $115,024,000 after purchasing an additional 81,646 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut Hess to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $175.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.00.

Hess Stock Up 0.7 %

HES stock opened at $128.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.50. The company has a market capitalization of $39.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69 and a beta of 1.15. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $167.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.14. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.63%.

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.