Candriam S.C.A. Buys 2,894 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 18.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 18,425 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,894 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Hess were worth $2,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HES. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hess by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,126,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,903,793,000 after buying an additional 294,146 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised 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 valued at $418,291,000 after acquiring an additional 726,631 shares in the last quarter. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd boosted its position in shares of Hess by 44.0% during the 1st quarter. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd now owns 1,103,212 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $168,394,000 after acquiring an additional 337,238 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 31.7% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 909,089 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $138,763,000 after purchasing an additional 218,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Hess by 12.2% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 753,564 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $115,024,000 after purchasing an additional 81,646 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $128.92 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $141.41 and its 200 day moving average is $148.09. The company has a market cap of $39.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $125.89 and a 1 year high of $167.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The business’s revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 11.12 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 30.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Hess to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $175.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Mizuho increased their target price on Hess from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Hess in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Hess from $193.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eight 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $174.46.

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.