Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Downgraded to “Sector Perform” at Atb Cap Markets

Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report released on Thursday, PriceTargets.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on HP. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $38.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Benchmark upgraded Helmerich & Payne from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $51.00 to $47.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Helmerich & Payne from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, November 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $49.27.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

Helmerich & Payne stock opened at $38.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.69. The company has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15 and a beta of 1.69. Helmerich & Payne has a fifty-two week low of $30.41 and a fifty-two week high of $54.45.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 9th. The oil and gas company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $659.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $662.17 million. Helmerich & Payne had a return on equity of 15.76% and a net margin of 15.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Helmerich & Payne will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 17th. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 2.2% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 328,890 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $14,071,000 after buying an additional 7,160 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 3.9% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 18,667 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $799,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Helmerich & Payne in the first quarter valued at about $353,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 4.2% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 18,629 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $799,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Helmerich & Payne in the first quarter valued at about $272,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

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.