Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on HP. Weiss Ratings cut Helmerich & Payne from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Barclays upped their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Helmerich & Payne currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.10.

Helmerich & Payne Price Performance

Helmerich & Payne stock opened at $41.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.58. Helmerich & Payne has a 12-month low of $20.32 and a 12-month high of $48.17. The stock has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.08 and a beta of 0.66.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.20). Helmerich & Payne had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a negative return on equity of 2.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $987.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Helmerich & Payne will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -70.92%.

Insider Activity at Helmerich & Payne

In related news, SVP Cara Hair sold 11,149 shares of Helmerich & Payne stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.27, for a total value of $493,566.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,024,925.65. The trade was a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sara Momper sold 5,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.28, for a total transaction of $223,791.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 16,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $750,900.24. The trade was a 22.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 110,673 shares of company stock worth $4,864,590. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Helmerich & Payne

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HP. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the second quarter valued at $196,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 120.3% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 20,962 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $686,000 after purchasing an additional 11,445 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 137,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,490,000 after purchasing an additional 13,160 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in Helmerich & Payne during the 2nd quarter worth $112,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP increased its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,505 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

About Helmerich & Payne

Helmerich & Payne, Inc is a contract drilling company that provides land and offshore drilling services to oil and gas exploration and production companies. The company operates drilling rigs and supplies related services used to drill, develop and maintain wells.

H&P’s offerings include its FlexRig fleet of high-performance land rigs, directional drilling, automated drilling technologies and rig management services. These capabilities are designed to support horizontal and other complex well programs, particularly in unconventional oil and natural gas basins.

Founded in 1920 by Walter Helmerich and William Payne, the company is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.