Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 38.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Hess were worth $663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of HES. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Hess by 1.0% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 65,722 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $9,705,000 after buying an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA increased its position in Hess by 2,507.0% during the 2nd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 2,242 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 2,156 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Hess by 95.2% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 20,503 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,025,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Hess by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 271,351 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $40,030,000 after purchasing an additional 52,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the 2nd quarter worth about $74,000. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Hess to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $175.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Hess from $193.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped 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 note on Friday, July 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.00.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $128.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69 and a beta of 1.15. Hess Co. has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $167.75. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.51. 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 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 net margin of 21.22% and a return on equity of 27.43%. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 30.63%.

Hess Company 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.