State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. Trims Holdings in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. $HP

Key Points

• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. reduced its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 5.0%, now owning 7,841,430 shares valued at approximately $204.82 million.
• Helmerich & Payne announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 5.4%.
• The company's latest earnings report showed a 49.2% increase in revenue year-over-year, totaling $1.04 billion, surpassing analyst forecasts.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. reduced its stake in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,841,430 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 415,770 shares during the quarter. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. owned about 7.89% of Helmerich & Payne worth $204,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,113 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 4.5% in the first quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 12,999 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 13,385 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,294 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. 96.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Helmerich & Payne from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $25.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $22.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sara Marie Momper sold 6,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.83, for a total transaction of $119,461.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 21,908 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $390,619.64. This represents a 23.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.51% of the company's stock.

Helmerich & Payne Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HP traded down $0.0350 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $17.7650. The stock had a trading volume of 1,946,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,446,640. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of -53.83 and a beta of 0.87. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.65 and a 1 year high of $37.46.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. Helmerich & Payne had a positive return on equity of 5.81% and a negative net margin of 0.90%.The firm's revenue was up 49.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Helmerich & Payne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -303.03%.

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.