Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Trading Up 6.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Shares of Helmerich & Payne rose by 6.8% after Barclays upgraded the stock from an equal weight to an overweight rating, setting a new price target of $25.00.
• The company reported earnings of $0.22 per share, surpassing expectations, with revenue increasing 49.2% compared to the same quarter last year, totaling $1.04 billion.
• Helmerich & Payne announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25, which will be paid on December 2nd, offering a 4.4% yield to shareholders.

Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 6.8% during trading on Tuesday after Barclays upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. Barclays now has a $25.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $17.00. Helmerich & Payne traded as high as $22.64 and last traded at $22.68. 116,660 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 1,972,214 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.24.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on HP. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. 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. Zacks Research raised shares of Helmerich & Payne to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $25.00 to $17.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Helmerich & Payne news, CAO Sara Marie Momper sold 6,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 21,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $390,619.64. The trade was a 23.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.51% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $143,209,000 after buying an additional 71,168 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 28.4% in the first 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 last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 8.1% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings 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 valued at $44,873,000 after buying an additional 255,794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 174.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,298,510 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.05% of the company's stock.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Up 7.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of -69.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $18.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.04.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Helmerich & Payne had a positive return on equity of 5.81% and a negative net margin of 0.90%.The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 49.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 18th. Helmerich & Payne's dividend payout ratio is -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.

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