Argent Trust Co Sells 733 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Argent Trust Co lessened its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 34.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,425 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 733 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Hess were worth $210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,126,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,903,793,000 after purchasing an additional 294,146 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in shares of Hess by 4.4% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 8,098,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,194,619,000 after acquiring an additional 340,490 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $418,291,000 after acquiring an additional 726,631 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 11.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,798,788 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $265,359,000 after purchasing an additional 181,459 shares during the period. Finally, KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Hess by 44.0% in the first quarter. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd now owns 1,103,212 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $168,394,000 after purchasing an additional 337,238 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Hess to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $175.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.31.

Hess Stock Performance

Hess stock opened at $134.40 on Friday. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $167.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $41.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.58 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $138.17 and its 200 day moving average is $147.00.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued 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. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.63%.

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.