HighTower Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 25,891 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 546 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Helmerich & Payne were worth $829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HP. Private Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Helmerich & Payne during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,095,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,413,749 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,268,000 after buying an additional 62,377 shares in the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 93.9% during the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 76,064 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,436,000 after buying an additional 36,828 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC raised its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 519.3% in the fourth quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 61,114 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after acquiring an additional 51,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired a new stake in Helmerich & Payne in the third quarter valued at approximately $619,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HP. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $39.00 price objective (down from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus upgraded Helmerich & Payne to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.11.

Helmerich & Payne Trading Down 1.0 %

HP opened at $25.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.80 and a 52 week high of $44.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $28.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.65. The firm has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.42.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.02. Helmerich & Payne had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 11.31%. On average, research analysts predict that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.89%.

Insider Activity at Helmerich & Payne

In other Helmerich & Payne news, Director Belgacem Chariag acquired 37,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $27.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,011,600.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 54,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,730.48. The trade was a 216.56 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John W. Lindsay acquired 20,000 shares of Helmerich & Payne stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.55 per share, with a total value of $551,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 691,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,042,945.70. This trade represents a 2.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.