National Pension Service Grows Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 536,382 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 56,392 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.17% of Hess worth $72,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 1.4% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 5,102 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Hess by 1.6% in the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,599 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position 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 last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Hess by 16.9% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 540 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Hess by 4.7% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,771 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on HES. Citigroup cut their price objective on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hess from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a research report on Saturday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $164.00.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HES traded up $3.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $142.57. 3,554,307 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,123,498. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62 and a beta of 1.15. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $135.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.78.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is a positive change from Hess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Hess's payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

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.