Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (NYSE:HLX) Short Interest Up 20.9% in December

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (NYSE:HLX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,520,000 shares, an increase of 20.9% from the December 15th total of 7,050,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.4 days. Approximately 6.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other Helix Energy Solutions Group news, COO Scott Andrew Sparks sold 170,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.87, for a total value of $1,677,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 112,634 shares in the company, valued at $1,111,697.58. This trade represents a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Diana Glassman sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.94, for a total value of $159,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,133 shares in the company, valued at $259,762.02. This trade represents a 37.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 269,991 shares of company stock valued at $2,607,137. Insiders own 6.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 55,568 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 6,220 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Helix Energy Solutions Group by 38.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,064,809 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $22,919,000 after purchasing an additional 575,450 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,286,917 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $36,492,000 after purchasing an additional 25,432 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group by 269.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 306,482 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,402,000 after purchasing an additional 223,432 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group in the third quarter worth about $273,000. 91.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Helix Energy Solutions Group from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered Helix Energy Solutions Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

Helix Energy Solutions Group Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of HLX opened at $9.11 on Friday. Helix Energy Solutions Group has a 12-month low of $8.64 and a 12-month high of $13.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of 227.71 and a beta of 2.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $9.80 and its 200 day moving average is $10.40.

Helix Energy Solutions Group (NYSE:HLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.02. Helix Energy Solutions Group had a return on equity of 4.39% and a net margin of 0.54%. The business had revenue of $342.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $354.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. Research analysts expect that Helix Energy Solutions Group will post 0.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Helix Energy Solutions Group

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, an offshore energy services company, provides specialty services to the offshore energy industry in Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico, the East Coast of the United States, North Sea, the Asia Pacific, and West Africa regions. The company operates through four segments: Well Intervention, Robotics, Production Facilities, and Shallow Water Abandonment segments.