The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

HES favored by Brian Rogers of T Rowe Price (from Barron’s Roundtable):

http://online.barrons.com/articles/barrons-2015-roundtable-part-2-getting-down-to-business-1422078667

…given the selloff in energy stocks, you have to own an energy name. My pick is Hess. The stock previously traded above $104 and is now in the low $70s. Hess has undergone a transformation in the past few years, after Elliott Management launched a proxy battle. The board was restructured to include people from Elliott’s slate. For a CEO whom investors doubted, all I can say is, John Hess has gotten religion.

The company has been pruning its portfolio. You’ve got to love a company that sold its Russian business two years ago for $2 billion. Today, it would be worth only $1 billion. Hess has pruned about $8 billion in assets. It has become serious about capital allocation, and has taken the share count down by repurchasing $4.7 billion of a $6.5 billion buyback authorization. The company has raised its dividend by 150%.

It is in an interesting resource position. Having sold many of its old businesses, it is now concentrated in the Bakken and Utica shale formations. It is an energy exploration-and-development pure play. The company has shed its terminal business and its gas stations.

…Everyone would have to agree that the company is in a better place today because of the proxy battle. In a sector under tremendous siege, Hess seems like a high-quality, well-managed, financially safe company that has cleaned up its act. Recent estimates have put the company’s valuation at $100 to $105 a share, compared with an asset value of $135 last summer.