Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 329,734 Shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) by 27.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,522,144 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 329,734 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 1.54% of Helmerich & Payne worth $48,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,182,972 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $127,246,000 after buying an additional 34,395 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,686,215 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $86,013,000 after buying an additional 801,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,247,214 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $68,373,000 after buying an additional 22,875 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 3.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,504,654 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $45,772,000 after buying an additional 49,982 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 18.0% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,161,286 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $35,326,000 after buying an additional 177,023 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on HP. Citigroup upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Argus upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $39.00 target price (down previously from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.75.

Helmerich & Payne Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Helmerich & Payne stock opened at $27.28 on Friday. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.35 and a 12-month high of $44.11. The company has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $32.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.40.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Helmerich & Payne’s payout ratio is 32.89%.

Insider Transactions at Helmerich & Payne

In related news, Director Belgacem Chariag bought 37,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired 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 $1,478,730.48. This trade represents a 216.56 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John W. Lindsay bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.55 per share, for a total transaction of $551,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 4.51% 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.