Royce & Associates LP Sells 95,918 Shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its position in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) by 40.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 140,723 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 95,918 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.14% of Helmerich & Payne worth $4,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HP. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 20.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,130 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in 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 worth $4,793,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Helmerich & Payne during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 22,239 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $712,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,840 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. 96.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on 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. Argus raised Helmerich & Payne to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $39.00 target price (down previously from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Insider Activity at Helmerich & Payne

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

Helmerich & Payne Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE HP opened at $25.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 2.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.39, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.90. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.80 and a 52-week high of $44.11.

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

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Helmerich & Payne’s payout ratio is 32.89%.

Helmerich & Payne 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.