Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Sells 361 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,506 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 361 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HES. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,054,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 59.9% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Hess by 424.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,466 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,971,000 after purchasing an additional 15,757 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hess by 2.7% during the second quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 590,326 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $87,085,000 after purchasing an additional 15,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 24.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 66,362 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,129,000 after purchasing an additional 12,915 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on HES. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.00.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $138.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.14 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.58. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98.

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 company had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.63%.

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.