ARGA Investment Management LP Raises Position in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

ARGA Investment Management LP grew its holdings in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) by 42.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,686,215 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 801,000 shares during the quarter. Helmerich & Payne comprises about 2.8% of ARGA Investment Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. ARGA Investment Management LP’s holdings in Helmerich & Payne were worth $86,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 76.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,479 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 127.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,522 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 854 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the 3rd quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Steph & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the fourth quarter worth $87,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HP shares. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $39.00 target price (down previously from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.50.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

Shares of Helmerich & Payne stock opened at $32.62 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.86. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.46 and a 12 month high of $44.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.40.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The oil and gas company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Helmerich & Payne had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 12.44%. The company had revenue of $693.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $695.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. Helmerich & Payne’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 3.11 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, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

Helmerich & Payne Profile

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.