Syquant Capital Sas Takes Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Syquant Capital Sas bought a new position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 130,675 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $17,745,000. Hess accounts for approximately 65.5% of Syquant Capital Sas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Hess by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 56,302 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,646,000 after acquiring an additional 3,635 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Hess by 108.4% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 593,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $87,519,000 after acquiring an additional 308,600 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,054,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Hess by 1.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,751 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,914,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Hess by 47.1% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,333 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,999,000 after purchasing an additional 6,508 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research raised Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.15.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HES traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $140.34. 1,357,373 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,204,227. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $135.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.20. The firm has a market cap of $43.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 1.15. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $167.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 10.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.63%.

Hess Company 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.