Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its position in Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) by 79.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,610 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,511 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $4,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 106.2% in the 1st quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 225.6% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 293 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on HES. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Hess from $151.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 225,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.18, for a total transaction of $29,965,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,984,679 shares in the company, valued at $264,319,549.22. The trade was a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 650,000 shares of company stock worth $91,845,500. Insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES opened at $144.51 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $44.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.99 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $133.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.99. Hess Corporation has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $161.69.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 17.65%. The business’s revenue was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Hess Corporation will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 27.66%.

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.