Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lessened its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 13.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 56,514 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 9,000 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Hess were worth $8,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 17.9% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 507 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 10.3% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 855 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,616 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Founders Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 8.3% in the first quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 1,300 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 11,181 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,612,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Hess from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Hess from $164.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.83.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HES traded up $0.36 on Wednesday, reaching $149.28. 623,039 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,477,614. The company’s 50 day moving average is $152.30 and its 200-day moving average is $149.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.99 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83 and a beta of 1.16. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $129.12 and a fifty-two week high of $167.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $3.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $1.43. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 22.73% and a net margin of 17.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 26.80%.

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.