Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Rating Increased to Buy at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $40.00 price objective on the oil and gas company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $33.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on HP. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.57.

Helmerich & Payne Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HP opened at $34.29 on Friday. Helmerich & Payne has a 1 year low of $29.46 and a 1 year high of $44.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $33.61 and its 200 day moving average is $34.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.40.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The oil and gas company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. The firm had revenue of $693.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $695.99 million. Helmerich & Payne had a return on equity of 12.44% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 27,667 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 22,002 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 20.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,130 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 76.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,479 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 0.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 157,568 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,793,000 after buying an additional 666 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.