Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) Short Interest Down 7.3% in January

Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,920,000 shares, a drop of 7.3% from the January 15th total of 10,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,540,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.4 days. Currently, 10.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on HP. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup upgraded Helmerich & Payne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI restated 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. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Helmerich & Payne

In other Helmerich & Payne news, 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 purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 691,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,042,945.70. This trade represents a 2.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Belgacem Chariag purchased 37,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.08 per share, with a total value of $1,011,600.48. Following the purchase, the director now owns 54,606 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,730.48. This represents a 216.56 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 4.51% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 18.1% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 58,634 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after buying an additional 9,004 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 93.9% during the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 76,064 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,436,000 after buying an additional 36,828 shares during the period. Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the third quarter worth about $619,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 510.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 140,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,279,000 after buying an additional 117,624 shares during the period. Finally, Tandem Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the fourth quarter worth about $413,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of Helmerich & Payne stock traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $26.53. 1,895,995 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,632,362. Helmerich & Payne has a 1 year low of $26.32 and a 1 year high of $44.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.20 and its 200 day moving average is $33.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 2.81. The firm has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 8.73, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.37.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 11.02%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Helmerich & Payne will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.89%.

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.