Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC reduced its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 60.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,622 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 7,120 shares during the quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Hess by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 11,864 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,548 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 20.9% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 66,619 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $9,047,000 after buying an additional 11,522 shares during the period. Tanager Wealth Management LLP bought a new position in Hess during the third quarter valued at about $670,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 14,316.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 131,047 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $177,960,000 after acquiring an additional 130,138 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its position in Hess by 18.4% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,739 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $138.50 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.93. The company has a market capitalization of $42.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Hess Co. has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results 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. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HES shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.00.

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.