The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Stock Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 217,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 34,732 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Hess were worth $32,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $4,903,793,000 after purchasing an additional 294,146 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in Hess by 4.4% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position 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 worth $418,291,000 after purchasing an additional 726,631 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Hess by 11.2% during 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 buying an additional 181,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Hess by 45.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,794,087 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $264,664,000 after acquiring an additional 561,832 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho dropped their price target on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.15.

Hess Price Performance

HES stock opened at $135.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $41.84 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80 and a beta of 1.15. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $167.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $135.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.47. 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 (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.14. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 10.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 1.47%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.