Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Lowers Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC cut its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,188 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 204 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $3,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hess by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,126,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,903,793,000 after acquiring an additional 294,146 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in shares of Hess by 4.4% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 8,098,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,194,619,000 after acquiring an additional 340,490 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Hess by 34.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $418,291,000 after acquiring an additional 726,631 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Hess by 6.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,451,807 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $361,691,000 after acquiring an additional 150,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Hess by 11.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,798,788 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $265,359,000 after purchasing an additional 181,459 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on HES shares. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.00.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $137.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98 and a beta of 1.15. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $163.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $135.42 and a 200 day moving average of $144.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.63%.

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.