HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Hess Midstream Partners LP $HESM

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hess Midstream Partners LP by 33.6% during Q1, acquiring an additional 8,792 shares and reaching a total of 34,997 shares valued at approximately $1.48 million.
• Hess Midstream Partners recently increased its dividend from $0.71 to $0.737 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 7.1% and a dividend payout ratio of 109.26%.
• Analysts have generally shown optimism, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.20 for the stock, following upgrades from firms like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hess Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:HESM - Free Report) by 33.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,997 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,792 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Hess Midstream Partners were worth $1,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HESM. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hess Midstream Partners by 31.1% in the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 26,356,221 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,114,605,000 after acquiring an additional 6,251,664 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Hess Midstream Partners by 131.4% in the 1st quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,969,448 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,118,245 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Hess Midstream Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,640,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Hess Midstream Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $23,415,000. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT grew its holdings in shares of Hess Midstream Partners by 41.0% in the first quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,825,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,200,000 after purchasing an additional 530,626 shares in the last quarter. 98.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HESM has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Hess Midstream Partners from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Hess Midstream Partners from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Hess Midstream Partners in a research report on Friday, July 25th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Hess Midstream Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.20.

Hess Midstream Partners Stock Performance

NYSE HESM traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.24. The company had a trading volume of 455,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,326,352. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.26, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. Hess Midstream Partners LP has a 1-year low of $33.59 and a 1-year high of $44.14. The company has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $40.06 and a 200-day moving average of $39.49.

Hess Midstream Partners (NYSE:HESM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.18. Hess Midstream Partners had a net margin of 18.52% and a return on equity of 60.37%. The company had revenue of $414.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $405.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Hess Midstream Partners's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hess Midstream Partners LP will post 2.5 EPS for the current year.

Hess Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.737 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. This is an increase from Hess Midstream Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Hess Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO John A. Gatling sold 62,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.59, for a total transaction of $2,597,586.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Geurt G. Schoonman sold 3,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.10, for a total transaction of $127,035.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Hess Midstream Partners Profile

Hess Midstream LP owns, develops, operates, and acquires midstream assets and provide fee-based services to Hess and third-party customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Gathering; Processing and Storage; and Terminaling and Export. The Gathering segment owns natural gas gathering and compression systems; crude oil gathering systems; and produced water gathering and disposal facilities.