Swiss National Bank Acquires 1,500 Shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194,300 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.20% of Helmerich & Payne worth $6,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,182,972 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $127,246,000 after purchasing an additional 34,395 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,686,215 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $86,013,000 after acquiring an additional 801,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,247,214 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $68,373,000 after acquiring an additional 22,875 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,557,931 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $49,885,000 after acquiring an additional 53,277 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,522,144 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $48,739,000 after acquiring an additional 329,734 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

NYSE:HP opened at $24.78 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.80 and a 1 year high of $44.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.07 and a 200-day moving average of $31.80.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on HP. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $39.00 target price (down from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup raised shares of Helmerich & Payne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $33.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Argus upgraded Helmerich & Payne to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Helmerich & Payne presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Helmerich & Payne 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.