Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Purchased by AE Wealth Management LLC

AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 7.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,698 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Hess by 0.9% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 294,146 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 4.4% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 8,098,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,194,619,000 after acquiring an additional 340,490 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 34.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $418,291,000 after acquiring an additional 726,631 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Hess by 11.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,798,788 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $265,359,000 after acquiring an additional 181,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 76.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,532,132 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $227,273,000 after acquiring an additional 663,338 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HES shares. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Hess to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. UBS Group cut their target price on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.31.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $130.67 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $137.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.80. The company has a market capitalization of $40.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01 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 twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $167.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 21.22% and a return on equity of 27.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 10.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. This is an increase 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 is currently 30.63%.

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.