Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Purchased by K2 Principal Fund L.P.

K2 Principal Fund L.P. grew its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 59.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,149 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,000 shares during the quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P.’s holdings in Hess were worth $4,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HES. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 561,832 shares during the period. Sagefield Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Hess by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 502,242 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $74,091,000 after acquiring an additional 96,523 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 52,742 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,780,000 after acquiring an additional 2,420 shares in the last quarter. P Schoenfeld Asset Management LP boosted its position in Hess by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. P Schoenfeld Asset Management LP now owns 136,886 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $20,193,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Hess by 64.3% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $135.32 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $137.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.97. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid 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 yield of 1.48%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 30.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess has an average 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.