Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Position Increased by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 108.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 593,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 308,600 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Hess were worth $87,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 0.9% in 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 last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in shares of Hess by 4.4% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 8,098,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,194,619,000 after buying an additional 340,490 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,451,807 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $361,691,000 after acquiring an additional 150,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Hess by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,798,788 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $265,359,000 after acquiring an additional 181,459 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HES has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.15.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $140.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48 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 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $167.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $135.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.35.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly 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. Hess had a net margin of 21.22% and a return on equity of 27.43%. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities 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 was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 30.63%.

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.