Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (HP) — payout ratio, three ways
Fiscal year ending 2025-09-30 · sector Energy · payout ratios computed from SEC filings, not taken from a data vendor.
| Basis | Payout | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | negative | The company lost $1.66 per share, so there are no earnings to pay a dividend out of and no ratio exists. |
| Operating cash flow | 18.6% | Before capital spending, so it understates the payout that free cash flow shows. |
| Free cash flow | 86.4% | The figure the sector itself watches, and the one most producers set distributions against. Check whether any part of the payout is a variable or special dividend before reading a trend into it. |
Spread between highest and lowest: 68 percentage points. Same filings, different denominators.
Coverage rating 15 / 100 — Not covered. ? Peer standing 5/50Direction 10/30Stability 0/20
Free cash flow payout, last 6 years
| Fiscal year | Payout |
|---|---|
| 2025-09-30 | 86.4% |
| 2024-09-30 | 88.9% |
| 2023-09-30 | 46.0% |
| 2021-09-30 | 201.0% |
| 2020-09-30 | 65.4% |
| 2019-09-30 | 78.9% |
Among the 32 energy companies here, only 9% pay out a larger share on this basis — this is at the demanding end.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $0.25 ÷ diluted EPS $-1.66
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $100.7m ÷ operating cash flow $543.0m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $100.7m ÷ (operating cash flow $543.0m − capex $426.4m)
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2025-11-21 · accession
0000046765-25-000071
Every one is public at sec.gov and free to check. That is the point — you should not have to take my word for any of it.
Caveats on this company
- DPS $0.25 filed as declared, but dividends paid imply $1.01 — one of the two underlying facts is wrong. The filed per-share figure is used.
Computed by an open pipeline reading SEC XBRL directly. If any number here looks wrong to you, tell me — that is more useful to me than agreement.