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

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

HP has been the topic of several other reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $39.00 target price (down from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup upgraded Helmerich & Payne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays cut 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 report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.75.

Helmerich & Payne Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HP opened at $26.96 on Tuesday. Helmerich & Payne has a 52 week low of $26.35 and a 52 week high of $44.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $32.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.37.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last released 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, sell-side analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Helmerich & Payne

In other news, Director Belgacem Chariag purchased 37,356 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.08 per share, with a total value of $1,011,600.48. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 54,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,730.48. The trade was a 216.56 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John W. Lindsay purchased 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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. This represents a 2.98 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HP. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 38.9% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 31,803 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $967,000 after acquiring an additional 8,907 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,656 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 9,086 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 127.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,522 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 33.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 93,310 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,838,000 after purchasing an additional 23,459 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

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.