Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lowered its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 19.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,681 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 5,734 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Hess were worth $3,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HES. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter worth approximately $110,423,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 34.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 726,631 shares during the period. Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,714,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 774.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 462,953 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Hess by 136.1% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 690,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $99,546,000 after buying an additional 398,089 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 issued reports on HES shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Hess in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Hess to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $175.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.31.

Hess Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of HES opened at $131.39 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.17. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $167.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.63%.

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.