Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (HP) - What Are Researchers Saying About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analysts hold a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Helmerich & Payne, with five buy ratings, one strong buy, five holds, and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $44.18 versus a recent price of $39.91.
• Institutional ownership is substantial: hedge funds and other institutions own 96.05% of the stock, with BlackRock initiating a $513.3 million position and several other firms increasing their stakes.
• Helmerich & Payne recently missed quarterly EPS expectations, reporting a $0.11 loss per share versus the expected $0.09 profit, while revenue reached $1.03 billion. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25, equivalent to a 2.5% annual yield.

Shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.18.

A number of analysts have issued reports on HP shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna raised 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Thursday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Hans Helmerich sold 94,470 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total transaction of $4,147,233.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $878,000. This trade represents a 82.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sara Momper sold 5,054 shares of Helmerich & Payne stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.28, for a total value of $223,791.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 16,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $750,900.24. This trade represents a 22.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,673 shares of company stock valued at $4,864,590. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Helmerich & Payne in the 2nd quarter valued at $513,336,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 11.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,735,765 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $206,660,000 after purchasing an additional 570,500 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 109.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,676,169 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $60,392,000 after purchasing an additional 874,823 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 165.1% during the fourth quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,081,644 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $59,702,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 217.4% during the second quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,526,707 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $49,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,727 shares during the last quarter. 96.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Helmerich & Payne Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE HP opened at $39.91 on Friday. Helmerich & Payne has a 52 week low of $21.73 and a 52 week high of $48.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of -28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $987.70 million. Helmerich & Payne had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a negative return on equity of 2.35%. Helmerich & Payne's revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Helmerich & Payne's payout ratio is -70.92%.

About Helmerich & Payne

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.

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