Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Raises Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,357 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Hess were worth $3,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HES. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Hess by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,126,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,903,793,000 after acquiring an additional 294,146 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 4.4% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 8,098,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,194,619,000 after purchasing an additional 340,490 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Hess by 34.5% in 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 buying an additional 726,631 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Hess by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,451,807 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $361,691,000 after buying an additional 150,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Hess by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,798,788 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $265,359,000 after buying an additional 181,459 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hess Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $139.42 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.22. The stock has a market cap of $42.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35 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 company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. Hess’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. 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 dividend yield of 1.43%. Hess’s payout ratio is 30.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HES has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” 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.