Agate Pass Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Agate Pass Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 9.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,980 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 0.9% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 294,146 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. bought a new stake in Hess during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $237,100,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,595,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $229,969,000 after acquiring an additional 48,457 shares during the period. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd raised its position in shares of Hess by 44.0% in the 1st quarter. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd now owns 1,103,212 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $168,394,000 after acquiring an additional 337,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 31.7% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 909,089 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $138,763,000 after purchasing an additional 218,563 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hess Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HES traded down $1.02 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $133.99. 1,090,697 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,366,526. The stock has a market cap of $41.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.52 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $146.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.50. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $130.35 and a 52-week high of $167.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The company’s revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 11.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Hess’s payout ratio is 26.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HES. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Hess from $167.00 to $166.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.58.

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.