Helix Energy Solutions Group (NYSE:HLX) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (NYSE:HLX)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $8.61 and last traded at $8.68, with a volume of 114303 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.69.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HLX shares. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Helix Energy Solutions Group from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BTIG Research lowered Helix Energy Solutions Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Helix Energy Solutions Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Helix Energy Solutions Group Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 213.43 and a beta of 2.46. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.30.

Helix Energy Solutions Group (NYSE:HLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $342.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $354.74 million. Helix Energy Solutions Group had a return on equity of 4.39% and a net margin of 0.54%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. will post 0.26 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kenneth English Neikirk sold 83,991 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.17, for a total transaction of $770,197.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,549 shares in the company, valued at $958,714.33. The trade was a 44.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Scott Andrew Sparks sold 170,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 112,634 shares in the company, valued at $1,111,697.58. The trade was a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 269,991 shares of company stock worth $2,607,137. 6.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Helix Energy Solutions Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HLX. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,546,820 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $61,016,000 after purchasing an additional 923,477 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Helix Energy Solutions Group by 61.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,136 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 3,491 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in Helix Energy Solutions Group by 12.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,064,809 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $22,919,000 after buying an additional 575,450 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,286,917 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $36,492,000 after acquiring an additional 25,432 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.33% of the company’s stock.

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.