Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Shares Gap Down to $42.43

Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $42.43, but opened at $39.91. Helmerich & Payne shares last traded at $40.24, with a volume of 430,596 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup raised their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.88.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.70. The company has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.51.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $677.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.81 million. Helmerich & Payne had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 15.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,181,316 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $187,668,000 after buying an additional 19,622 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 4.0% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,929,498 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $123,508,000 after buying an additional 113,735 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 130.8% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,720,464 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $98,535,000 after buying an additional 1,541,987 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,628,685 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $95,211,000 after buying an additional 210,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 2,214,742 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $80,218,000 after buying an additional 34,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.