Royce & Associates LP Trims Stock Holdings in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP significantly reduced its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 83.7%, selling 117,747 shares during the first quarter and now holding only 22,976 shares valued at approximately $600,000.
• Many hedge funds have increased their positions in Helmerich & Payne, with some firms like Sterling Capital Management boosting their stake by 817.5% in the fourth quarter.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings reported $0.02 per share, which fell short of analysts' expectations of $0.65, despite a year-over-year revenue increase of 47.7%.

Royce & Associates LP decreased its stake in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP - Free Report) by 83.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,976 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 117,747 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP's holdings in Helmerich & Payne were worth $600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HP. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Helmerich & Payne by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 33,116 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,060,000 after buying an additional 1,357 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Helmerich & Payne in the fourth quarter worth about $644,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 21,763 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 721,831 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $23,113,000 after acquiring an additional 128,501 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the fourth quarter worth about $21,572,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.05% of the company's stock.

Helmerich & Payne Trading Down 3.4%

HP stock traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $15.66. 2,576,828 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,791,932. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.65 and a 52-week high of $37.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.68. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.52 and a 200-day moving average of $21.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.15 and a beta of 0.87.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.63). Helmerich & Payne had a net margin of 7.15% and a return on equity of 8.25%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $961.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Helmerich & Payne's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HP. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $19.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $25.00 to $17.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $25.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Helmerich & Payne presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $23.10.

About Helmerich & Payne

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.