Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Shares Down 5.3% Following Analyst Downgrade

Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)’s stock price dropped 5.3% during mid-day trading 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 equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $43.00 to $28.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays cut their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Helmerich & Payne from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,459 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in Helmerich & Payne during the first quarter worth about $665,000. Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired a new stake in Helmerich & Payne during the first quarter valued at approximately $468,000. PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Helmerich & Payne during the first quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 39,685.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,613 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 34,526 shares during the period. 96.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.54, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. 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%.

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.