Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 494,813 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,990 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.50% of Helmerich & Payne worth $12,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 104.2% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,699 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 61.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,386 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 907 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,459 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 817.5% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 2,714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,533 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 1,932 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.05% of the company's stock.

Helmerich & Payne Price Performance

Shares of HP traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $15.60. 1,792,953 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,771,436. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.25. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.65 and a 52-week high of $42.60. The company has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.12 and a beta of 0.82.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.63). Helmerich & Payne had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 7.15%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $961.03 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders 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 6.41%. Helmerich & Payne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HP shares. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a report on Monday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $19.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $25.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Three research 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 data from MarketBeat, Helmerich & Payne has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $23.10.

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.