Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.79.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HAL shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Halliburton from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Halliburton by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 14,027 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Halliburton by 28.8% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc raised its position in Halliburton by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 10,847 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 11,842 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Bank & Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 3.2% in the third quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 12,979 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of HAL stock opened at $30.19 on Wednesday. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $27.26 and a fifty-two week high of $41.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.21.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 28.33% and a net margin of 11.04%. The business’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.69%.

About Halliburton

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems.