Bridgewater Associates LP Buys 75,546 Shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

Bridgewater Associates LP grew its stake in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) by 82.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 166,643 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75,546 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Helmerich & Payne were worth $5,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Helmerich & Payne in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 61.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,386 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 82.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 817.5% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 2,714 shares during the period. 96.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $43.00 to $28.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (down from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.78.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

Shares of HP stock opened at $20.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 2.81. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.82 and a 52 week high of $42.68. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.51. The company has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Helmerich & Payne

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

Helmerich & Payne 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.