Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (NYSE:HLX) Short Interest Up 5.4% in December

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (NYSE:HLX) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,050,000 shares, an increase of 5.4% from the November 30th total of 6,690,000 shares. Approximately 4.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,910,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Helix Energy Solutions Group from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Helix Energy Solutions Group

In other Helix Energy Solutions Group news, COO Scott Andrew Sparks sold 170,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.87, for a total transaction of $1,677,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 112,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,111,697.58. This represents a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Diana Glassman sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.94, for a total transaction of $159,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,762.02. This represents a 37.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 269,991 shares of company stock worth $2,607,137. 6.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Helix Energy Solutions Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HLX. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Helix Energy Solutions Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $81,862,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Helix Energy Solutions Group by 87.8% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,489,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $17,783,000 after acquiring an additional 696,395 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Helix Energy Solutions Group by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,413,435 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $40,756,000 after acquiring an additional 680,635 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Helix Energy Solutions Group by 111.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 941,394 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,449,000 after acquiring an additional 496,278 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Helix Energy Solutions Group by 2.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,018,797 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $131,559,000 after purchasing an additional 254,880 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.33% of the company’s stock.

Helix Energy Solutions Group Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE:HLX opened at $9.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 242.06 and a beta of 2.45. Helix Energy Solutions Group has a 12-month low of $8.81 and a 12-month high of $13.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $9.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Helix Energy Solutions Group (NYSE:HLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.02. Helix Energy Solutions Group had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 4.39%. The firm had revenue of $342.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $354.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Helix Energy Solutions Group will post 0.29 EPS for the current year.

About Helix Energy Solutions Group

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, an offshore energy services company, provides specialty services to the offshore energy industry in Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico, the East Coast of the United States, North Sea, the Asia Pacific, and West Africa regions. The company operates through four segments: Well Intervention, Robotics, Production Facilities, and Shallow Water Abandonment segments.