Kestra Investment Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 851 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 76.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,479 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 127.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,522 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Helmerich & Payne in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, Steph & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the 4th quarter valued at $87,000. Institutional investors own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Helmerich & Payne

In related news, Director Belgacem Chariag purchased 37,356 shares of Helmerich & Payne stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,011,600.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,730.48. This represents a 216.56 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John W. Lindsay acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.55 per share, with a total value of $551,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 691,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,042,945.70. The trade was a 2.98 % 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on HP. Argus upgraded Helmerich & Payne to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $33.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (down from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

Shares of Helmerich & Payne stock opened at $26.23 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.37. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.69 and a fifty-two week high of $44.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.89%.

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.