Helmerich & Payne, Inc. $HP Holdings Lifted by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,550,279 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 231,737 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Helmerich & Payne were worth $34,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 174.1% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,044,383 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $30,993,000 after buying an additional 1,298,510 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the second quarter valued at $10,571,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Helmerich & Payne in the 2nd quarter worth about $7,841,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 3,600.1% during the 2nd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 349,990 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,306,000 after acquiring an additional 340,531 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 22.9% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,720,505 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $26,083,000 after purchasing an additional 321,004 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on HP shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore set a $37.00 price target on Helmerich & Payne in a report on Friday, February 6th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.20.

Helmerich & Payne Price Performance

Shares of Helmerich & Payne stock opened at $34.74 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.89 and a beta of 0.54. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.65 and a 1-year high of $36.73.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.27). Helmerich & Payne had a positive return on equity of 0.28% and a negative net margin of 7.71%.The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $990.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Helmerich & Payne’s payout ratio is currently -31.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Hans Helmerich sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.12, for a total transaction of $2,109,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 496,735 shares in the company, valued at $13,968,188.20. The trade was a 13.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Helmerich & Payne

Helmerich & Payne, Inc is a leading provider of contract drilling services to the oil and gas industry, specializing primarily in onshore drilling operations. The company designs, engineers and operates a fleet of advanced drilling rigs, including its proprietary FlexRigs, which are engineered for high efficiency, safety and rapid mobilization. Alongside core drilling services, Helmerich & Payne offers well intervention, workover and coiled tubing services, positioning itself as a comprehensive drilling solutions partner for exploration and production companies worldwide.

Founded in 1920 and headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Helmerich & Payne has grown through innovation and strategic expansion to serve diverse hydrocarbon basins.