Arden Trust Co Decreases Stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Arden Trust Co reduced its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 136 shares during the period. Arden Trust Co’s holdings in Hess were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HES. Alpine Associates Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter worth about $237,100,000. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter worth about $110,423,000. Water Island Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the fourth quarter worth about $76,714,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 774.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 522,707 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,351,000 after buying an additional 462,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its position in Hess by 1,284.5% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 434,646 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $62,659,000 after purchasing an additional 403,253 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of HES traded down $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $131.17. 1,454,572 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,379,540. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $130.35 and a twelve month high of $167.75. The stock has a market cap of $40.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12 and a beta of 1.16.

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 business had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 11.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Hess’s payout ratio is 26.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on HES shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.58.

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.