Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to “Overweight” Rating

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $34.00 target price on the oil and gas company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $24.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $27.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a report on Monday. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.40.

Helmerich & Payne Price Performance

Helmerich & Payne stock opened at $30.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.22 and a beta of 0.56. Helmerich & Payne has a one year low of $14.65 and a one year high of $37.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $26.12 and its 200 day moving average is $20.83.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 17th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $972.79 million. Helmerich & Payne had a positive return on equity of 3.21% and a negative net margin of 4.37%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 45.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Helmerich & Payne’s payout ratio is presently -59.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Helmerich & Payne

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HP. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,483,028 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $143,209,000 after acquiring an additional 71,168 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 7.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,474,036 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $76,741,000 after purchasing an additional 249,425 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,003,086 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $66,338,000 after purchasing an additional 43,158 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,132,265 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $47,102,000 after purchasing an additional 87,882 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,720,505 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,083,000 after purchasing an additional 321,004 shares during the last quarter. 96.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.