241,983 Shares in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Acquired by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 241,983 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $36,936,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hess during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Hess during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Hess during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hess Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $137.31 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $131.61 and a 12-month high of $167.75. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $42.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03 and a beta of 1.16.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.14. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 11.08 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HES has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Hess in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.58.

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.