Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Earns “Underweight” Rating from Morgan Stanley

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP)‘s stock had its “underweight” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $27.00 price target on the oil and gas company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 3.79% from the company’s current price.

HP has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup raised Helmerich & Payne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (down previously from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Argus upgraded Helmerich & Payne to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.11.

Helmerich & Payne Trading Up 1.6 %

HP stock opened at $26.02 on Thursday. Helmerich & Payne has a 52 week low of $23.80 and a 52 week high of $44.11. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of 8.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 2.81.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.02. Helmerich & Payne had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 11.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Helmerich & Payne will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Helmerich & Payne

In other news, Director Belgacem Chariag acquired 37,356 shares of Helmerich & Payne stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $27.08 per share, with a total value of $1,011,600.48. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 54,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,730.48. The trade was a 216.56 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John W. Lindsay acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.55 per share, with a total value of $551,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 691,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,042,945.70. This represents a 2.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Helmerich & Payne

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HP. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Helmerich & Payne in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 61.3% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,386 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. bought a new stake in Helmerich & Payne during the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 82.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. 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.