MONECO Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

MONECO Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,104 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,128 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HES. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 53,095 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,210,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its position in Hess by 1.4% in the third quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 14,178 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,925,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Hess in the third quarter valued at about $213,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Hess by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,264 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,173,000 after acquiring an additional 3,025 shares during the period. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its position in shares of Hess by 57.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 11,074 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,477,000 after acquiring an additional 4,020 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $134.63 on Wednesday. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $163.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $135.40 and its 200 day moving average is $144.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $41.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Hess had a net margin of 21.22% and a return on equity of 27.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. Hess’s payout ratio is 23.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on HES shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Mizuho cut their price target on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.00.

Hess Company 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.