Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Bought by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 64.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,449,969 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 567,550 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.47% of Hess worth $218,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HES. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $110,423,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Hess by 34.5% during the 2nd 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 period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Hess by 76.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 663,338 shares during the period. Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,714,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of Hess by 774.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 522,707 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,351,000 after purchasing an additional 462,953 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hess Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $135.32 on Tuesday. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $167.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $137.86 and a 200-day moving average of $146.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.69 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72 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 (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.22% and a return on equity of 27.43%. The company had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 30.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HES has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Hess to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.31.

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.