Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.25.

HP has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Argus raised Helmerich & Payne to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $39.00 target price (down from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th.

Helmerich & Payne Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of HP opened at $24.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.42. Helmerich & Payne has a twelve month low of $23.80 and a twelve month high of $44.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.17.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.02. Helmerich & Payne had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 11.02%. As a group, analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Helmerich & Payne’s payout ratio is currently 32.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Helmerich & Payne

In other Helmerich & Payne news, Director Belgacem Chariag bought 37,356 shares of Helmerich & Payne stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.08 per share, with a total value of $1,011,600.48. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,730.48. This represents a 216.56 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John W. Lindsay purchased 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.55 per share, with a total value of $551,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 691,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,042,945.70. The trade was a 2.98 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,479 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 18.1% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 58,634 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after buying an additional 9,004 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP increased its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 56.1% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 19,512 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 7,015 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP raised its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 17,192 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,130 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

About Helmerich & Payne

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.