Hess Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:HESM) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Hess Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:HESM) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 12,754,528 shares, an increase of 65.7% from the September 30th total of 7,695,343 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,393,816 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days. Currently, 6.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Hess Midstream Partners from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Hess Midstream Partners from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Hess Midstream Partners from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Barclays set a $32.00 price objective on Hess Midstream Partners in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Hess Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $30.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hess Midstream Partners currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $34.00.

Hess Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of Hess Midstream Partners stock opened at $32.70 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.94. Hess Midstream Partners has a 52 week low of $29.52 and a 52 week high of $41.44. The company has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.39.

Hess Midstream Partners (NYSE:HESM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.05. Hess Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 94.12% and a net margin of 23.49%. The firm had revenue of $410.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $404.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Hess Midstream Partners will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.7985 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 5th. This represents a $3.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.8%. This is a boost from Hess Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.7888. Hess Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.25%.

Institutional Trading of Hess Midstream Partners

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hess Midstream Partners by 67.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,752,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,840,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,007 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its stake in Hess Midstream Partners by 1.8% during the third quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,586,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,292,000 after purchasing an additional 28,499 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Hess Midstream Partners by 1,110.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,069,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,562,000 after purchasing an additional 980,929 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Hess Midstream Partners by 34.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 959,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,289,000 after purchasing an additional 247,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Hess Midstream Partners by 38.7% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 446,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,771,000 after purchasing an additional 124,507 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.97% of the company’s stock.

About Hess Midstream Partners

Hess Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:HESM) is a midstream energy company that owns and operates infrastructure supporting oil and gas production, primarily in the Bakken and Three Forks shale plays of North Dakota. The company provides essential services between the wellhead and downstream markets rather than exploring for or producing hydrocarbons itself.

Its operations include gathering, processing, storage and transportation services for crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Hess Midstream also provides produced-water gathering and disposal services, helping manage water generated during oil and gas production.