Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Raised to Hold at Argus

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) was upgraded by Argus to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on HP. Citigroup upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $33.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (down from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.75.

Helmerich & Payne Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HP opened at $26.96 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Helmerich & Payne has a fifty-two week low of $26.35 and a fifty-two week high of $44.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.37.

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, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Helmerich & Payne

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 34,395 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its position 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 valued at $86,013,000 after purchasing an additional 801,000 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 327,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 22,875 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,557,931 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $49,885,000 after buying an additional 53,277 shares in the last quarter. 96.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.