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. lowered its holdings in Hess Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:HESM - Free Report) by 21.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 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 about 0.50% of Hess Midstream Partners worth $46,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hess Midstream Partners by 840.2% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess Midstream Partners during the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Hess Midstream Partners by 20.0% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,520 shares of the company's stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess Midstream Partners by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 4,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $184,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hess Midstream Partners during the first quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.97% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Geurt G. Schoonman sold 3,249 shares of the company's 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Blackrock Portfolio Management sold 15,022,517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.86, for a total value of $553,729,976.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Hess Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HESM traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.59. 1,742,852 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,995,102. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 0.67. Hess Midstream Partners LP has a 52 week low of $33.59 and a 52 week high of $44.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.26, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.45.

Hess Midstream Partners (NYSE:HESM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $414.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $405.08 million. Hess Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 60.37% and a net margin of 18.52%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. Analysts predict that Hess Midstream Partners LP will post 2.5 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.737 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. This is a boost from Hess Midstream Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Hess Midstream Partners's payout ratio is currently 109.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Hess Midstream Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Hess Midstream Partners from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.