M&G Plc Increases Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

M&G Plc increased its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,090 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,812 shares during the quarter. M&G Plc’s holdings in Hess were worth $5,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HES. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,054,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Hess by 59.9% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,823 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,087,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Hess by 424.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,466 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,971,000 after buying an additional 15,757 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess by 2.7% during the second quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 590,326 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $87,085,000 after buying an additional 15,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 255.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,836 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,008,000 after buying an additional 4,911 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of HES opened at $142.18 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $135.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.76 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HES shares. Susquehanna increased their target price on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.30.

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.