Creative Planning Purchases 241 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,369 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Hess were worth $2,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 5,102 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $779,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Hess by 1.6% during the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,599 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 7.3% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Hess by 16.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 540 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hess by 10.3% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 855 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on HES shares. Mizuho cut their price target on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.00.

Hess Price Performance

HES opened at $138.02 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $135.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.76. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $163.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Hess had a net margin of 21.22% and a return on equity of 27.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. 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 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.