Short Interest in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) Declines By 5.1%

Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 12,070,000 shares, a drop of 5.1% from the November 15th total of 12,720,000 shares. Approximately 12.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,540,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.8 days.

Helmerich & Payne Price Performance

NYSE:HP opened at $30.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.39. Helmerich & Payne has a 12-month low of $29.46 and a 12-month high of $44.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $34.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.50.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The oil and gas company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.76. The business had revenue of $693.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $695.99 million. Helmerich & Payne had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 12.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.07%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 76.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,479 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 127.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,522 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 96.9% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Helmerich & Payne during the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Helmerich & Payne during the third quarter worth approximately $61,000. 96.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on HP shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Helmerich & Payne presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.57.

Helmerich & Payne Company Profile

Founded in 1920, Helmerich & Payne, Inc (H&P) (NYSE: HP) is committed to delivering industry leading levels of drilling productivity and reliability. H&P operates with the highest level of integrity, safety and innovation to deliver superior results for its customers and returns for shareholders.