Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Stake Boosted by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,675,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HES. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Hess in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hess in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Hess during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Hess in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Hess by 47.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $134.40 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $167.75.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. Hess’s revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 30.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HES. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.