Helmerich & Payne (HP) Stock Forecast and Price Target (2026)
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
15 analysts covering Helmerich & Payne (HP) carry an average price target of $40.80 as of July 2026, +22.1% against the $33.42 price at the time of the pull. The published targets run from $30.00 to $47.00, a spread of 42% of the average, so the disagreement is moderate. The rating split is 7 buy, 8 hold, 1 sell. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
HP analyst price targets
HP analyst data as of July 2026, sourced from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a forecast Walnut endorses, and targets are typically set on a 12-month view. Verify current figures before deciding.
The average target of $40.80 sits above the $33.42 price, +22.1%. The median is $43.00, and where the two differ the median is the steadier read, because one unusually high or low target cannot drag it.
What the HP target range actually tells you
The published targets span $30.00 to $47.00. That gap is 42% of the average target, which counts as moderate disagreement. That is a fairly typical spread: enough agreement that the average means something, enough disagreement that it should not be treated as precise.
The useful move is to read the high target as one bull scenario and the low target as one bear scenario, then ask which set of assumptions you find more plausible. Both cases are worked through on the HP is it a buy page.
Recent analyst actions on HP
| Firm | Action | Target | Prior | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Susquehanna | Lowered (Positive) | $40.00 | $43.00 | July 8, 2026 |
| Citigroup | Lowered (Neutral) | $36.00 | $38.00 | June 29, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | Raised (Neutral) | $41.00 | $35.00 | June 4, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | Raised (Overweight) | $43.00 | $41.00 | May 18, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Raised (Underweight) | $39.00 | $35.00 | May 14, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Raised (Sector Perform) | $40.00 | $38.00 | May 8, 2026 |
| Barclays | Raised (Overweight) | $47.00 | $39.00 | May 8, 2026 |
| Susquehanna | Raised (Positive) | $43.00 | $42.00 | May 8, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Raised (Underweight) | $35.00 | $30.00 | April 15, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | Raised (Overweight) | $41.00 | $40.00 | April 15, 2026 |
| Susquehanna | Raised (Positive) | $42.00 | $40.00 | April 7, 2026 |
| Citigroup | Raised (Neutral) | $38.00 | $33.00 | February 11, 2026 |
The most recent published rating actions on HP within the last six months, from Yahoo Finance. Each row is dated because a target only means something alongside the date it was set. Walnut is not an investment adviser and does not endorse any of these views.
In the last six months there have been 10 raises and 2 cuts among these actions. The direction of revisions is often more telling than the level, because it shows which way informed opinion is moving.
How analysts rate HP
Of the analysts with a published rating, 7 say buy, 8 say hold, and 1 says sell, so 44% carry a buy. That mix has been broadly steady over the last three months.
Read the distribution rather than the label. Sell ratings are rare across the entire market for structural reasons, so a stock with no sell ratings is unremarkable, while even a handful of them is worth understanding.
Why a HP price target is not a prediction
- It is a 12-month model output. An analyst picks assumptions for revenue, margin, and a multiple, and the target falls out of the arithmetic. Change one assumption and the target moves a lot.
- The distribution is skewed. Sell-side coverage carries far more buy ratings than sell ratings across the whole market, so the average is not a balanced vote.
- Targets follow price as often as they lead it. Revisions frequently arrive after a move, not before, which is why a rising target is weak evidence on its own.
- Nobody is scored on it. There is no cost to a target that never gets close, so treat accuracy as unverified unless you check the firm's record yourself.
What could move HP from here
In short: the drivers cited most often are US land-drilling leadership, International expansion and the Middle East, Multiyear upcycle thesis. The risk cited most often against it is the dominant risk is cyclicality: H&P's revenue depends on producers' drilling budgets, which rise and fall with oil and gas prices, so a downturn in energy prices can quickly cut rig demand, utilization, and day rates.
Both sides are worked through properly, with the high and low targets used as the bull and bear anchors, on the HP is it a buy page. This page deliberately stops at the numbers.
Investing in Helmerich & Payne with AI
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FAQ
What is the price target for Helmerich & Payne (HP)?
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The average analyst price target for HP is $40.80 as of July 2026, across 15 analysts. That is +22.1% against the $33.42 price at the time of the data pull, so the consensus sits above where the stock trades. The median target, which is less distorted by one extreme view, is $43.00. Targets move constantly; verify the current figure before relying on it.
How high could HP go?
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The highest published target is $47.00, which is +40.6% against the $33.42 price. That is one analyst's most optimistic case, not a ceiling and not a forecast. The lowest is $30.00. The gap between them is the honest answer to this question: analysts who all follow Helmerich & Payne closely disagree by 42% of the average target, so treat any single number as one scenario.
How many analysts cover HP?
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15 analysts publish estimates on HP as of July 2026. Of those with a published rating, 7 say buy, 8 hold, and 1 sell, so 44% carry a buy rating. More coverage usually means the consensus is better informed, though it also means the obvious points are already in the price.
Are analyst price targets for HP accurate?
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Treat them as informed opinion, not measurement. Two things are worth knowing. Sell-side ratings skew positive across the market, and HP is no exception at 44% buy ratings, so the distribution is not a balanced vote. And targets tend to follow the share price at least as often as they lead it, getting raised after a stock has already run. They are most useful as a read on what the informed consensus expects, and least useful as a prediction of where the price lands.
Has the HP price target been raised or cut recently?
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In the last six months there have been 10 raises and 2 cuts among the published actions on HP. The most recent was Susquehanna, which lowered its target to $40.00 from $43.00 on July 8, 2026. The direction of revisions often tells you more than the level, because it shows which way the informed view is moving.
Will HP go up in 2026?
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Nobody knows, including the analysts publishing targets. What the numbers on this page tell you is where informed opinion currently sits and how much it disagrees with itself, which is genuinely useful and completely different from a prediction. The risk most often cited against Helmerich & Payne: The dominant risk is cyclicality: H&P's revenue depends on producers' drilling budgets, which rise and fall with oil and gas prices, so a downturn in energy prices can quickly cut rig demand, utilization, and day rates. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice, and does not publish price targets of its own. The analyst figures on this page come from a July 2026 data pull of published third-party research, are approximate, and change constantly. Verify current figures with your broker before acting on them.