Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seventeen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.6667.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BKR shares. Zacks Research raised Baker Hughes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Baker Hughes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Baker Hughes from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Baker Hughes from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th.

Baker Hughes Stock Down 0.2%

BKR stock opened at $63.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.76. Baker Hughes has a 1-year low of $43.92 and a 1-year high of $70.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.56. The firm has a market cap of $63.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.96.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, July 26th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.13. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Baker Hughes will post 2.51 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 181,411 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.43, for a total transaction of $10,599,844.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 703,444 shares in the company, valued at $41,102,232.92. This trade represents a 20.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Baker Hughes

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EFG International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 344.1% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 604 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.