Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.36.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

HP opened at $38.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.96. The company has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of -27.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.40 and a 200-day moving average of $38.02. Helmerich & Payne has a 52-week low of $21.76 and a 52-week high of $48.17.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.20). Helmerich & Payne had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a negative return on equity of 2.35%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $987.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Helmerich & Payne will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. Helmerich & Payne’s payout ratio is currently -70.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Helmerich & Payne news, SVP Cara M. Hair sold 11,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.27, for a total value of $493,566.23. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,024,925.65. This trade represents a 7.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Hans Helmerich sold 94,470 shares of Helmerich & Payne stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $4,147,233.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $878,000. This represents a 82.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,673 shares of company stock valued at $4,864,590. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HP. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the 1st quarter worth about $101,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the 2nd quarter valued at about $112,000. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Helmerich & Payne in the first quarter valued at about $210,000. CacheTech Inc. bought a new stake in Helmerich & Payne in the first quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new stake in Helmerich & Payne in the second quarter valued at about $196,000. 96.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Helmerich & Payne Company Profile

Helmerich & Payne, Inc is a contract drilling company that provides land and offshore drilling services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies. Founded in 1920 and headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the company operates and manages drilling rigs used to develop unconventional and conventional energy resources.

Its services include drilling-rig contracting, rig management, operational support, and technology solutions designed to improve drilling efficiency, safety, and well performance.