Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Trading Down 12.5% on Analyst Downgrade

Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)’s stock price dropped 12.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $32.00 to $25.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. Helmerich & Payne traded as low as $19.11 and last traded at $19.01. Approximately 505,075 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 1,708,940 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.71.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on HP. Citigroup cut their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target 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 reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $39.00 price objective (down previously from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays dropped 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 research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Helmerich & Payne has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.22.

Insider Activity at Helmerich & Payne

In related news, Director Belgacem Chariag purchased 37,356 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.08 per share, with a total value of $1,011,600.48. Following the purchase, 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John W. Lindsay purchased 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $27.55 per share, for a total transaction of $551,000.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HP. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 104.2% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,699 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,386 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in Helmerich & Payne in the fourth quarter valued at about $87,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 82.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.88. The company has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last announced 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders 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 yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.89%.

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.