abrdn plc Sells 9,520 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

abrdn plc cut its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 96,759 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 9,520 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Hess were worth $13,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 726,631 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Hess by 76.4% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,532,132 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $227,273,000 after buying an additional 663,338 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 64.3% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,449,969 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $218,220,000 after purchasing an additional 567,550 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 45.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,794,087 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $264,664,000 after purchasing an additional 561,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sculptor Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 188.7% in the second quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 765,542 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $112,933,000 after purchasing an additional 500,342 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on HES shares. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.00.

Hess Price Performance

HES stock opened at $137.75 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $135.31 and a 200-day moving average of $144.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. Hess’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.31%.

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.