Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by Summit Trail Advisors LLC

Summit Trail Advisors LLC lessened its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,525 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 466 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $225,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HES. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 47.6% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Price Performance

Hess stock opened at $135.61 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $41.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.27. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $167.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $137.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.90.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 11.04 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is 30.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on HES. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.31.

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.