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

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (NYSE:HLX) saw 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. Approximately 6.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HLX has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Helix Energy Solutions Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen lowered 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Activity at Helix Energy Solutions Group

In related news, COO Scott Andrew Sparks sold 170,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 112,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,111,697.58. The trade was a 60.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Diana Glassman sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.94, for a total transaction of $159,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,133 shares of the company’s stock, 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 three months, insiders sold 269,991 shares of company stock valued at $2,607,137. Insiders own 6.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Helix Energy Solutions Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Helix Energy Solutions Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $250,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group by 18.1% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 146,429 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,748,000 after acquiring an additional 22,442 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Helix Energy Solutions Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $198,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Helix Energy Solutions Group by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,018,797 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $131,559,000 after purchasing an additional 254,880 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $184,000. Institutional investors own 91.33% of the company’s stock.

Helix Energy Solutions Group Trading Up 1.7 %

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

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

Helix Energy Solutions Group Company Profile

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.