Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $6.20 Million Stock Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado reduced its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,625 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,910 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Hess were worth $6,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew 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 during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hess by 10.3% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 855 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess by 1.8% during the first quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,527 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Hess by 1.5% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 5,537 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HES traded down $1.78 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $148.47. 659,603 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,365,822. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.23. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $131.61 and a 52 week high of $167.75. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.53.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $3.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $1.43. Hess had a return on equity of 22.73% and a net margin of 17.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 36.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 11.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HES shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Hess from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.58.

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.