Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,340,000 shares, a decline of 5.0% from the December 15th total of 11,940,000 shares. Currently, 11.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $39.00 target price (down previously from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $33.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Helmerich & Payne presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.50.

Institutional Trading of Helmerich & Payne

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 76.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,479 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 127.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,522 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 854 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, Steph & Co. acquired a new stake in Helmerich & Payne during the fourth quarter worth about $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

Helmerich & Payne Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HP opened at $36.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.70 and a 200 day moving average of $34.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 10.57, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.39. Helmerich & Payne has a one year low of $29.46 and a one year high of $44.11.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The oil and gas company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. The business had revenue of $693.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $695.99 million. Helmerich & Payne had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 12.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Helmerich & Payne will post 3.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

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.