Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) Given Outperform Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $57.00 price objective on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Schlumberger from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.81.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of SLB opened at $43.76 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.81. Schlumberger has a 1-year low of $36.52 and a 1-year high of $55.69. The company has a market cap of $61.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9,241,140 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Schlumberger will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. This is an increase from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 36.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 123,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $5,427,346.73. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 184,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,160.34. The trade was a 40.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Ugo Prechner sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $309,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,808. The trade was a 38.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 258,258 shares of company stock worth $11,246,604 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Schlumberger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SLB. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Schlumberger by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 100,979 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,764,000 after purchasing an additional 4,575 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 392,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $18,537,000 after purchasing an additional 6,998 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 9.1% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 313,292 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $14,781,000 after buying an additional 26,090 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 45,577.8% in the second quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 8,222 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 8,204 shares during the period. Finally, Interval Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Schlumberger during the second quarter valued at about $5,820,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Schlumberger Company Profile

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.