Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Hess Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:HESM)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Hess Midstream Partners by 21.1% to approximately $46.08 million after selling 290,737 shares in the first quarter.
• Hess Midstream Partners declared a quarterly dividend of $0.737 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 7.0%, reflecting an increase from the previous quarter's dividend.
• Analysts have set a new price target for Hess Midstream Partners at around $48.00, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" among investment analysts.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Hess Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:HESM - Free Report) by 21.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,089,562 shares of the company's stock after selling 290,737 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of Hess Midstream Partners worth $46,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HESM. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted 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 worth $1,114,605,000 after buying an additional 6,251,664 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in Hess Midstream Partners by 131.4% during the first 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 last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Hess Midstream Partners in the first quarter valued at about $29,640,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in Hess Midstream Partners in the fourth quarter worth about $23,415,000. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT grew its stake in shares of Hess Midstream Partners by 41.0% during the 1st 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.97% of the company's stock.

Hess Midstream Partners Stock Performance

HESM traded down $0.81 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $40.98. 1,701,712 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,966,722. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $39.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.18 and a beta of 0.67. Hess Midstream Partners LP has a 1-year low of $33.59 and a 1-year high of $44.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.92.

Hess Midstream Partners (NYSE:HESM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $414.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $405.08 million. Hess Midstream Partners had a net margin of 18.52% and a return on equity of 61.46%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hess Midstream Partners LP will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.737 per share. This is a boost from Hess Midstream Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.2%. Hess Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.19%.

Insider Activity at Hess Midstream Partners

In related news, major shareholder Blackrock Portfolio Management sold 15,022,517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.86, for a total transaction of $553,729,976.62. 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 value of $127,035.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HESM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Hess Midstream Partners from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Hess Midstream Partners in a research report on Friday, July 25th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Hess Midstream Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.80.

Hess Midstream Partners Company 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.