Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) SVP Sells $398,580.20 in Stock

Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) SVP Cara M. Hair sold 9,910 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.22, for a total value of $398,580.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 137,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,540,868.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Down 3.7 %

HP traded down $1.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.33. 1,158,803 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,310,505. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.65. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a one year low of $30.41 and a one year high of $46.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 2.16.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.01). Helmerich & Payne had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 13.21%. The company had revenue of $687.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $682.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lowered Helmerich & Payne from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $44.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.63.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 514.4% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 940 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 26.4% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,698 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Helmerich & Payne in the 4th quarter worth approximately $73,000. Hedge funds and other 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.