American Century Companies Inc. Has $40.03 Million Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 23.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 271,351 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,121 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.09% of Hess worth $40,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HES. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd bought a new stake in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at $110,423,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted 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 worth $418,291,000 after purchasing an additional 726,631 shares in the last quarter. Water Island Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter worth about $76,714,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 136.1% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 690,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $99,546,000 after purchasing an additional 398,089 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:HES opened at $130.81 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $40.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $139.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.28.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 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 firm had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of 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. Citigroup cut their price objective 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. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.77.

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.