Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Upgraded at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays upgraded Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating, highlighting positive sentiment from investment analysts.
• Despite this upgrade, other firms like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs have cut their price targets for the stock, indicating mixed opinions among analysts.
• Helmerich & Payne reported a 49.2% year-over-year increase in revenue during its latest earnings call, beating expectations with revenues of $1.04 billion.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Barclays from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $25.00 price objective on the oil and gas company's stock. Barclays's price target indicates a potential upside of 17.54% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on HP. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down from $19.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Zacks Research raised shares of Helmerich & Payne to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $25.00 to $17.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Helmerich & Payne currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.00.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

Shares of HP stock opened at $21.27 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -64.45 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $18.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.04. Helmerich & Payne has a one year low of $14.65 and a one year high of $37.46.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. Helmerich & Payne had a negative net margin of 0.90% and a positive return on equity of 5.81%. The company's revenue was up 49.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Helmerich & Payne will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Helmerich & Payne

In other Helmerich & Payne news, CAO Sara Marie Momper sold 6,700 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,908 shares in the company, valued at $390,619.64. This represents a 23.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 1.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,483,028 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $143,209,000 after buying an additional 71,168 shares in the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 786,250 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,224,611 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $48,885,000 after buying an additional 240,771 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,959,928 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $44,873,000 after buying an additional 255,794 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 174.1% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,044,383 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $30,993,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,510 shares during the last quarter. 96.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.