Citigroup Raises Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Price Target to $42.00

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) had its price objective hoisted by Citigroup from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on HP. Barclays downgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a sell rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Benchmark downgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Helmerich & Payne presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $42.88.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Down 1.0 %

HP stock opened at $41.20 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.60. Helmerich & Payne has a 12 month low of $30.41 and a 12 month high of $46.55. The company has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.89.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.24. Helmerich & Payne had a net margin of 15.27% and a return on equity of 15.06%. The firm had revenue of $677.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Helmerich & Payne will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Helmerich & Payne’s payout ratio is 23.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 11.1% in the first quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 9,059 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 902 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 55.4% in the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 1,378,705 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $57,988,000 after buying an additional 491,589 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the first quarter valued at about $230,000. Profit Investment Management LLC increased its position in Helmerich & Payne by 51.4% during the first quarter. Profit Investment Management LLC now owns 79,792 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,356,000 after purchasing an additional 27,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in Helmerich & Payne by 2.5% during the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 12,852 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. 96.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.