Sei Investments Co. Buys 333 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 53,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Hess were worth $7,834,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hess by 4.7% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 19,663 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,901,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,698 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in Hess by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 11,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,675,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in Hess by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 12,295 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,814,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Hess by 71.3% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,492 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after acquiring an additional 9,363 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $133.61 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46 and a beta of 1.15. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $167.75. The business’s 50 day moving average is $136.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. Hess’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 10.46 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 30.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut Hess to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.42.

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.