Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $35.99, but opened at $34.46. Helmerich & Payne shares last traded at $34.04, with a volume of 196,126 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HP. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.88.

Helmerich & Payne Trading Down 4.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $32.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.32. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.42.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $697.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.78 million. Helmerich & Payne had a net margin of 12.72% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HP. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Helmerich & Payne in the first quarter valued at about $1,065,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 10.3% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 153,022 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,436,000 after acquiring an additional 14,347 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 188,402 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,809,000 after buying an additional 21,852 shares in the last quarter. Profit Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 51.4% during the 1st quarter. Profit Investment Management LLC now owns 79,792 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,356,000 after buying an additional 27,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $642,000. 96.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.