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

Shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and eighteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.0952.

HAL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Freedom Capital raised shares of Halliburton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group cut their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Halliburton from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 14th.

Halliburton Trading Up 2.0%

HAL stock opened at $32.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.73. Halliburton has a one year low of $20.39 and a one year high of $43.59. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $35.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Halliburton will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.60%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total value of $8,189,830.21. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 146,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,036,019.94. This represents a 57.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 148,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. This represents a 14.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Halliburton by 128.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,284,612 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $89,077,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,095 shares in the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,195,000. ABN Amro Investment Solutions acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $827,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 172.6% during the 4th quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 110,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,109,000 after buying an additional 69,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in Halliburton by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 373,949 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $10,568,000 after buying an additional 67,369 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Halliburton Company Profile

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company’s activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.