Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Acquires 421 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,992 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Hess were worth $9,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Hess by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 123,339 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $17,781,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Hess by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 100,330 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,464,000 after acquiring an additional 12,649 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 136.1% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 690,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $99,546,000 after purchasing an additional 398,089 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Hess by 59.9% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,823 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,087,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in Hess by 774.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 522,707 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,351,000 after purchasing an additional 462,953 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hess Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $126.30 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $141.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $148.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $125.89 and a 1-year high of $167.75. The company has a market cap of $38.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. Hess had a net margin of 21.22% and a return on equity of 27.43%. Hess’s revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 11.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 26.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on HES shares. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Hess to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.46.

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.