Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $65.20 and last traded at $64.72, with a volume of 7616493 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.67.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Zephirin Group boosted their price target on Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Capital One Financial raised their price objective on Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Baker Hughes from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Baker Hughes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.00.

Baker Hughes Trading Up 1.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $63.96 billion, a PE ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.36. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $53.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.24.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.11. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 9.33% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The company had revenue of $7.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 19,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total transaction of $1,131,956.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,296.68. The trade was a 56.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 1,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.77, for a total value of $110,703.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $672,140.04. This represents a 14.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 40,001 shares of company stock worth $2,322,692 over the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 648,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,850,000 after purchasing an additional 49,108 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the third quarter worth approximately $1,920,000. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 13.6% during the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 829,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,429,000 after buying an additional 99,314 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,890,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,035,924,000 after buying an additional 598,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Baker Hughes by 8.7% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,800,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,026,000 after acquiring an additional 144,381 shares in the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes is an energy technology company that provides a broad portfolio of products, services and digital solutions for the oil and gas and industrial markets. Its offerings span oilfield services and equipment — including drilling, evaluation, completion and production technologies — as well as turbomachinery, compressors and related process equipment used in midstream and downstream operations. The company also supplies aftermarket services, field support and integrated solutions designed to improve asset performance and uptime across the energy value chain.

The firm’s roots trace back to the merger of Baker International and Hughes Tool Company, and more recently it combined with GE’s oil and gas business in 2017 to form Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE); subsequent changes in ownership restored Baker Hughes as an independent publicly traded company.