Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. trimmed its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,147 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 540 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Hess were worth $971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Hess by 34.5% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 726,631 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 76.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,532,132 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $227,273,000 after purchasing an additional 663,338 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Hess by 64.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,449,969 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $218,220,000 after purchasing an additional 567,550 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Hess by 45.6% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,794,087 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $264,664,000 after purchasing an additional 561,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sculptor Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Hess by 188.7% in the second quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 765,542 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $112,933,000 after buying an additional 500,342 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HES shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hess currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.00.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of Hess stock opened at $137.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $135.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s payout ratio is 23.31%.

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.