Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $3.07 Million Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,827 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 77 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Hess were worth $3,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Highbridge Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 74.5% in the 2nd quarter. Highbridge Capital Management LLC now owns 418,918 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $61,799,000 after purchasing an additional 178,918 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 584.8% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 40,964 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,043,000 after purchasing an additional 34,982 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 76.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,532,132 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $227,273,000 after purchasing an additional 663,338 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 24,669 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 400.4% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 19,520 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,880,000 after purchasing an additional 15,619 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

HES stock opened at $133.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $138.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.08. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $167.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $41.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup cut their price objective on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Hess to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.31.

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.