Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Decreases Position in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 169,423 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 15,961 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.17% of Helmerich & Payne worth $4,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HP. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake 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 worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake 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 worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 907 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 82.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $98,000 after buying an additional 2,714 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.05% of the company's stock.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Up 1.7%

NYSE HP traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $18.30. 2,642,071 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,700,521. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of 6.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.83. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $18.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.81. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.65 and a 52 week high of $42.60.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $961.03 million. Helmerich & Payne had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The firm's revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.47%. Helmerich & Payne's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.