Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

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

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HP. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (down from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Argus raised Helmerich & Payne to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup raised Helmerich & Payne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price 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 Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Helmerich & Payne stock opened at $25.34 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.85. The company has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.34, a P/E/G 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 has a 1 year low of $23.80 and a 1 year high of $44.11.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio is 32.89%.

Insider Activity

In other Helmerich & Payne news, Director Belgacem Chariag bought 37,356 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.08 per share, with a total value of $1,011,600.48. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 54,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,730.48. This represents a 216.56 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John W. Lindsay bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Helmerich & Payne

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 58,634 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 9,004 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 413,542 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $13,242,000 after acquiring an additional 64,971 shares during the period. Private Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,095,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,413,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,268,000 after buying an additional 62,377 shares during the period. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 93.9% during the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 76,064 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,436,000 after buying an additional 36,828 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

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.