Blair William & Co. IL Has $642,000 Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Blair William & Co. IL trimmed its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 987 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Hess were worth $642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HES. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Hess during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Down 2.5 %

HES stock opened at $132.21 on Thursday. 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 twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $167.75. The company has a market cap of $40.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $137.56 and a 200-day moving average of $146.90.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 10.46 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 30.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho cut their price target 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. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded 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 research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.31.

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.