Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Trading Down 5.3% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) were down 5.3% on Monday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $20.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Helmerich & Payne traded as low as $16.72 and last traded at $16.86. Approximately 342,116 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 1,565,944 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.80.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on HP. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Argus raised shares of Helmerich & Payne to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com lowered Helmerich & Payne from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $43.00 to $28.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.80.

Institutional Trading of Helmerich & Payne

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Helmerich & Payne in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 104.2% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,699 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 61.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,386 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the first quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 85.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,167 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares during the period. 96.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Helmerich & Payne Trading Down 5.4%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $21.53 and its 200 day moving average is $28.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 5.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.93.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.63). Helmerich & Payne had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 11.02%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $961.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Helmerich & Payne’s payout ratio is presently 45.66%.

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.