Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Stock

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) had its price target upped by equities research analysts at Barclays from $50.00 to $51.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target points to a potential upside of 32.00% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on HP. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Helmerich & Payne currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.36.

Helmerich & Payne Trading Down 3.1%

HP traded down $1.24 during trading on Monday, reaching $38.64. 499,878 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,364,313. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.96. Helmerich & Payne has a fifty-two week low of $21.76 and a fifty-two week high of $48.17. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $41.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of -27.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.69.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.11) EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $987.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Helmerich & Payne will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Helmerich & Payne

In other news, SVP Cara Hair sold 11,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.27, for a total transaction of $493,566.23. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sara Momper sold 5,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.28, for a total transaction of $223,791.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 16,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $750,900.24. The trade was a 22.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,673 shares of company stock worth $4,864,590. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,158 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Core Capital Management & Research inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the second quarter worth approximately $196,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 11,445 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 10.6% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the second quarter valued at approximately $112,000. 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 natural gas exploration and production companies. Founded in 1920 and headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the company operates and manages drilling rigs used to develop unconventional and conventional energy resources.

Its services include drilling-rig contracting, rig management, operational support, and technology solutions designed to improve drilling efficiency, safety, and well performance.