Short Interest in Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (NYSE:HLX) Expands By 5.4%

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (NYSE:HLX) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,050,000 shares, an increase of 5.4% from the November 30th total of 6,690,000 shares. Approximately 4.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,910,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HLX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Helix Energy Solutions Group from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered Helix Energy Solutions Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Helix Energy Solutions Group Stock Up 1.6 %

HLX opened at $9.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 233.06 and a beta of 2.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $9.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.58. Helix Energy Solutions Group has a fifty-two week low of $8.81 and a fifty-two week high of $13.05.

Helix Energy Solutions Group (NYSE:HLX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.02. Helix Energy Solutions Group had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 4.39%. The business had revenue of $342.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $354.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Helix Energy Solutions Group will post 0.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Helix Energy Solutions Group news, COO Scott Andrew Sparks sold 170,000 shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,111,697.58. The trade was a 60.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Diana Glassman sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.94, for a total value of $159,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,762.02. This trade represents a 37.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 484,419 shares of company stock valued at $5,394,094 over the last 90 days. 6.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helix Energy Solutions Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Helix Energy Solutions Group in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in Helix Energy Solutions Group in the third quarter valued at about $61,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Helix Energy Solutions Group by 21.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,722 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group during the third quarter worth approximately $130,000. 91.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.