Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC decreased its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 9.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,506 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 361 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HES. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hess during the second quarter valued at about $6,054,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Hess by 59.9% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,823 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,087,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Hess by 424.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,466 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,971,000 after purchasing an additional 15,757 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 590,326 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $87,085,000 after buying an additional 15,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Hess by 24.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 66,362 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,129,000 after buying an additional 12,915 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of HES opened at $138.02 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.58. The company has a market cap of $42.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HES. Wolfe Research raised Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Susquehanna raised their price target on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.00.

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.