Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,653 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,044 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $11,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Hess by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,739 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,515 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Hess by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 53,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,834,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Hess by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 19,663 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Hess by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,698 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of Hess by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 11,354 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,675,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Hess to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.31.

Hess Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $134.40 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $41.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58 and a beta of 1.15. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $167.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $138.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.03.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.63%.

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.