Helmerich & Payne’s (HP) Underweight Rating Reiterated at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reiterated their underweight rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $27.00 price target on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $39.00 target price (down from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays reduced their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Argus raised Helmerich & Payne to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Helmerich & Payne has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.11.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HP opened at $25.27 on Thursday. Helmerich & Payne has a one year low of $23.80 and a one year high of $44.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $28.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.62.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.71 earnings per share 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, equities analysts forecast that Helmerich & Payne will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Belgacem Chariag acquired 37,356 shares of the firm’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 purchase, the director now owns 54,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,730.48. This represents a 216.56 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John W. Lindsay purchased 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.55 per share, with a total value of $551,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 691,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,042,945.70. The trade was a 2.98 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,182,972 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $127,246,000 after buying an additional 34,395 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,686,215 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $86,013,000 after purchasing an additional 801,000 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,658,356 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $85,121,000 after purchasing an additional 327,374 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,247,214 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $68,373,000 after purchasing an additional 22,875 shares during the last quarter. 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.