Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Trading 6.6% Higher - Time to Buy?

Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 6.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $18.53 and last traded at $18.78. 276,209 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 1,661,226 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on HP. Wall Street Zen cut Helmerich & Payne from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $25.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $19.00 price target (down from $25.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Helmerich & Payne has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.73.

Helmerich & Payne Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 2.81. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.47%. Helmerich & Payne's payout ratio is 45.66%.

Institutional Trading of Helmerich & Payne

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,483,028 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $143,209,000 after purchasing an additional 71,168 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,553,181 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $92,809,000 after purchasing an additional 786,250 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,487,019 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $111,654,000 after purchasing an additional 35,013 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,983,840 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $77,938,000 after purchasing an additional 325,484 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,704,134 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $70,632,000 after purchasing an additional 535,808 shares during the period. 96.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.