Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Price Target to $41.00

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) had its price target lowered by Royal Bank of Canada from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on HP. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Barclays reduced their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $42.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.00.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

Helmerich & Payne stock opened at $33.62 on Friday. Helmerich & Payne has a fifty-two week low of $29.46 and a fifty-two week high of $44.11. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.77, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The oil and gas company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.76. The company had revenue of $693.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $695.99 million. Helmerich & Payne had a return on equity of 12.44% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Helmerich & Payne by 48.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 3,416 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 8,855 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 53.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $829,000 after purchasing an additional 6,842 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 10.3% during 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 buying an additional 14,347 shares during the period. 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.