Bleakley Financial Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 28.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,747 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,501 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in 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 worth $418,291,000 after acquiring an additional 726,631 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake 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 worth $227,273,000 after purchasing an additional 663,338 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of 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. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 561,832 shares during the period. Finally, Sculptor Capital LP boosted its holdings in Hess by 188.7% during the second quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 765,542 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $112,933,000 after buying an additional 500,342 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HES shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.00.

Hess Stock Up 0.1 %

HES opened at $139.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.38 and a beta of 1.15. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $166.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $135.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.11.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Hess had a net margin of 21.22% and a return on equity of 27.43%. Hess’s revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.