Hennessy Advisors Inc. Invests $575,000 in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 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 recently added to or reduced their stakes in HP. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 104.2% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,699 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 61.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,386 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 85.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,167 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 82.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.05% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on HP. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays lowered their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $27.00 to $20.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Helmerich & Payne from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $19.00 price objective (down previously from $25.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.73.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Down 1.4%

HP stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $18.04. The company had a trading volume of 2,786,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,705,775. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.93, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.65 and a 52 week high of $42.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.69.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.63). The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $961.03 million. Helmerich & Payne had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 11.02%. The firm's revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.54%. Helmerich & Payne's payout ratio is 45.66%.

Helmerich & Payne Company 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.