Hennessy Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 22,000 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $575,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HP. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 413,542 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $13,242,000 after purchasing an additional 64,971 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,788,000. Private Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Helmerich & Payne in the third quarter worth approximately $1,095,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 4.6% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC raised its position in Helmerich & Payne by 389.3% during the fourth quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 38,754 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,241,000 after acquiring an additional 30,833 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on HP shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $19.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a report on Monday, May 19th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $43.00 to $28.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $27.00 to $20.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.73.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

Helmerich & Payne stock traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $17.39. The company had a trading volume of 1,678,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,710,348. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.11 and a 200-day moving average of $25.46. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.65 and a 52 week high of $42.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.94 and a beta of 0.83.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas company reported $0.02 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 analyst estimates of $961.03 million. Helmerich & Payne had a net margin of 7.15% and a return on equity of 8.25%. The company's revenue was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Helmerich & Payne's dividend payout ratio is 45.66%.

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.