Royce & Associates LP Decreases 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 reduced its stake in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP - Free Report) by 83.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,976 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 117,747 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP's holdings in Helmerich & Payne were worth $600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the fourth quarter worth about $28,708,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 28.4% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,553,181 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $92,809,000 after acquiring an additional 786,250 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,572,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 542.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 523,047 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $16,748,000 after acquiring an additional 441,688 shares during the period. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Helmerich & Payne during the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,931,000. 96.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $27.00 to $20.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Helmerich & Payne from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $25.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.10.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HP traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.53. The company had a trading volume of 2,170,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,723,307. The company's 50 day moving average price is $16.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.55 and a beta of 0.82. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.65 and a 52-week high of $40.84.

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

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.05%. Helmerich & Payne's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.66%.

Helmerich & Payne 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.