Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 21.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,480 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Hess were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in 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 worth $17,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Hess by 14.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Hess by 136.1% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 690,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $99,546,000 after acquiring an additional 398,089 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Hess by 59.9% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,823 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,087,000 after acquiring an additional 10,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Hess by 774.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 522,707 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $75,351,000 after purchasing an additional 462,953 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:HES opened at $130.81 on Wednesday. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $167.75. The firm has a market cap of $40.30 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $139.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.28.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HES. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.77.

Hess 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.