Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Stock Bumped Up to Hold by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on HP. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.18.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

Helmerich & Payne stock opened at $39.91 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of -28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.69. Helmerich & Payne has a twelve month low of $21.73 and a twelve month high of $48.17.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.20). Helmerich & Payne had a negative return on equity of 2.35% and a negative net margin of 3.43%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $987.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Helmerich & Payne will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -70.92%.

Insider Activity at Helmerich & Payne

In related news, CAO Sara Momper sold 5,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.28, for a total transaction of $223,791.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 16,958 shares in the company, valued at $750,900.24. The trade was a 22.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hans Helmerich sold 94,470 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $4,147,233.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $878,000. This trade represents a 82.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 110,673 shares of company stock worth $4,864,590 in the last quarter. 4.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Helmerich & Payne

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Helmerich & Payne by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,158 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the 2nd quarter worth $196,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 120.3% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 20,962 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 11,445 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 10.6% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 137,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,490,000 after buying an additional 13,160 shares during the period. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the second quarter valued at about $112,000. 96.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Helmerich & Payne

Here are the key news stories impacting Helmerich & Payne this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Improved long-term earnings outlook: Zacks raised its FY2027 EPS forecast to $1.32 from $1.27 and its FY2028 forecast to $2.51 from $2.46. The firm also increased estimates for Q4 2026, Q2 2027, Q4 2027, Q3 2028 and Q4 2028, signaling expectations for stronger profitability over the next several years.
• Positive Sentiment: Near-term estimates were upgraded: Zacks lifted its Q4 2026 EPS estimate to $0.21 from $0.18, Q2 2027 to $0.21 from $0.19, Q4 2027 to $0.47 from $0.45, Q3 2028 to $1.17 from $1.14 and Q4 2028 to $0.31 from $0.27. These revisions indicate improving expectations for demand and pricing in the oilfield-services market.
• Neutral Sentiment: Rating improved to Hold: Wall Street Zen upgraded HP to Hold, which is a modestly better stance than a negative rating but does not represent a bullish Buy recommendation. Helmerich & Payne Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen
• Negative Sentiment: Current results remain challenged: The consensus forecast for the current fiscal year is still a loss of $0.18 per share. HP previously reported a quarterly loss of $0.11 per share, missing the $0.09 estimate, while revenue declined slightly year over year. This suggests that the positive estimate revisions are primarily a recovery-oriented, longer-term catalyst rather than evidence of immediate earnings strength.

Helmerich & Payne Company Profile

Helmerich & Payne, Inc is a contract drilling company that provides land and offshore drilling services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies. Founded in 1920 and headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the company operates and manages drilling rigs used to develop unconventional and conventional energy resources.

Its services include drilling-rig contracting, rig management, operational support, and technology solutions designed to improve drilling efficiency, safety, and well performance.