Benchmark Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Benchmark in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark’s price objective points to a potential upside of 11.94% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on BKR. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Baker Hughes from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Baker Hughes from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.12.

Baker Hughes Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKR opened at $37.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $37.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Baker Hughes has a 12 month low of $28.32 and a 12 month high of $39.05. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.36.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 7.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Baker Hughes will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Baker Hughes news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 114,286 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 502,053 shares in the company, valued at $17,571,855. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Baker Hughes in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Baker Hughes in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Alta Advisers Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 81.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes Company provides a portfolio of technologies and services to energy and industrial value chain worldwide. The company operates through Oilfield Services & Equipment (OFSE) and Industrial & Energy Technology (IET) segments. The OFSE segment designs and manufactures products and provides related services, including exploration, appraisal, development, production, rejuvenation, and decommissioning for onshore and offshore oilfield operations.