Piper Sandler Trims Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Target Price to $47.00

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) had its price target lowered by Piper Sandler from $51.00 to $47.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on HP. Benchmark upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $38.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, October 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Helmerich & Payne from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $49.27.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Down 4.9 %

HP stock opened at $37.02 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Helmerich & Payne has a fifty-two week low of $30.41 and a fifty-two week high of $54.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.66. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 1.69.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 9th. The oil and gas company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.03). Helmerich & Payne had a return on equity of 15.76% and a net margin of 15.11%. The firm had revenue of $659.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $662.17 million. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Helmerich & Payne will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 20th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 17th. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio is 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Raymond John Adams III sold 2,500 shares of Helmerich & Payne stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $112,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 69,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,106,125. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Raymond John Adams III sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $112,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 69,025 shares in the company, valued at $3,106,125. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Hans Helmerich sold 25,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.46, for a total transaction of $1,088,122.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,340,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,908,628.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,127 shares of company stock valued at $1,455,502 over the last 90 days. 4.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY boosted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 6,313 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 3.0% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 8,302 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 1.9% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 17,651 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $626,000 after buying an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Transform Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 4.1% during the third quarter. Transform Wealth LLC now owns 8,919 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 1.9% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 19,157 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 357 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.