Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Reduces Position in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 52,801 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,447 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Helmerich & Payne were worth $1,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HP. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 13.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,656 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Helmerich & Payne by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 93,310 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,838,000 after acquiring an additional 23,459 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Helmerich & Payne in the third quarter worth $2,158,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 2.0% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 96,420 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. 96.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of 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 shares of Helmerich & Payne to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (down previously from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Helmerich & Payne has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.25.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HP opened at $26.46 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.12 and a 200 day moving average of $32.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.37. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.69 and a 52 week high of $44.11.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts predict that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Helmerich & Payne’s payout ratio is 32.89%.

Insider Activity

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