Primecap Management Co. CA Buys 340,490 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 4.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,098,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 340,490 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,194,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Hess in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hess in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Hess in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Hess in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hess by 47.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES opened at $128.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $39.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.74 and a beta of 1.15. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $167.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $139.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.41.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Hess’s revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 30.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HES. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.77.

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.