BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,942 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 19,937 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Hess were worth $7,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HES. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Hess by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 123,339 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $17,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Hess by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 100,330 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,464,000 after purchasing an additional 12,649 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Hess by 59.9% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Hess by 774.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 522,707 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $75,351,000 after buying an additional 462,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, K2 Principal Fund L.P. bought a new position in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,616,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Price Performance

HES opened at $132.21 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $137.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.90. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $167.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $40.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.14. Hess had a net margin of 21.22% and a return on equity of 27.43%. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. Hess’s revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 10.46 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 30.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HES has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on Hess in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.31.

About Hess

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.