Profund Advisors LLC Buys 1,305 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Profund Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 9.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,938 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,305 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $2,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HES. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Hess during the first quarter worth $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hess during the first quarter worth $27,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Hess during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Hess during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Hess by 47.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on HES. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.31.

Hess Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $134.40 on Monday. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $167.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average is $138.17 and its 200-day moving average is $147.03. The company has a market capitalization of $41.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.58 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Hess had a net margin of 21.22% and a return on equity of 27.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 30.63%.

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.