Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Purchases 8,000 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 77.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,345 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Hess were worth $2,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Hess by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,126,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,903,793,000 after buying an additional 294,146 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased 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 last quarter. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd raised its stake in Hess by 44.0% in the 1st quarter. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd now owns 1,103,212 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $168,394,000 after acquiring an additional 337,238 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Hess by 31.7% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Hess by 12.2% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 753,564 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $115,024,000 after purchasing an additional 81,646 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hess Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $128.57 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.27 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. The company has a market capitalization of $39.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $139.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.53.

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

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 30.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group decreased 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. BMO Capital Markets cut Hess to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $175.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.00.

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.