Is Helmerich & Payne (HP) Stock Outpacing Its Oils-Energy Peers This Year?

Investors interested in Oils-Energy stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Helmerich & Payne (HP) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Helmerich & Payne is a member of our Oils-Energy group, which includes 254 different companies and currently sits at #1 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

The Zacks Rank emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Helmerich & Payne is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HP's full-year earnings has moved 51.2% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, HP has moved about 88.7% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Oils-Energy sector has returned an average of 26.3% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Helmerich & Payne is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Helix Energy (HLX) is another Oils-Energy stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 30.1%.

Over the past three months, Helix Energy's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 21.3%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Helmerich & Payne belongs to the Oil and Gas - Drilling industry, which includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #23 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 49.1% this year, meaning that HP is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Helix Energy falls under the Oil and Gas - Field Services industry. Currently, this industry has 26 stocks and is ranked #26. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -2.3%.

Investors interested in the Oils-Energy sector may want to keep a close eye on Helmerich & Payne and Helix Energy as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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