Savant Capital LLC Buys 143 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,286 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 123,339 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $17,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings 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 increased its holdings in Hess by 136.1% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 690,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $99,546,000 after buying an additional 398,089 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Hess by 59.9% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,823 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,087,000 after buying an additional 10,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in Hess by 774.8% in 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 buying an additional 462,953 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Hess to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on Hess from $193.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Scotiabank dropped their target price 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. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Hess in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.46.

Hess Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $127.65 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $140.08 and a 200 day moving average of $147.64. The company has a market cap of $39.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 11.12 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.63%.

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.