Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Shares Down 2.8% on Analyst Downgrade

Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)’s share price dropped 2.8% during trading on Friday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $41.00 to $33.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Helmerich & Payne traded as low as $29.71 and last traded at $29.75. Approximately 831,379 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 1,322,720 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.61.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Bank of America cut their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $42.50 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Helmerich & Payne to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HP. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the 4th quarter valued at $1,206,000. Gendell Jeffrey L raised its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 405,776 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $14,697,000 after purchasing an additional 125,671 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,065,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 153,022 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,436,000 after purchasing an additional 14,347 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in Helmerich & Payne by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 188,402 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,809,000 after purchasing an additional 21,852 shares in the last quarter. 96.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Helmerich & Payne Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company’s fifty day moving average is $35.09 and its 200 day moving average is $37.42.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.15. Helmerich & Payne had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 12.72%. The company had revenue of $697.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.78 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

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.