Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by Forum Financial Management LP

Forum Financial Management LP reduced its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,277 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 112 shares during the quarter. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Hess were worth $445,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HES. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,841 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 9,969 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Hess by 24.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 66,362 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,129,000 after purchasing an additional 12,915 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hess by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 27,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,406 shares during the period. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 1st quarter valued at about $729,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wolfe Research raised Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a research report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.00.

Hess Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of HES opened at $138.72 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $135.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.89. The stock has a market cap of $42.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 1.15. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Hess’s dividend 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.