Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts remain broadly bullish on Baker Hughes, with 17 buy ratings and four holds producing an average “Moderate Buy” consensus and a $69.95 12-month price target.
• Baker Hughes exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.64 in EPS versus the $0.51 consensus and $6.74 billion in revenue, up 2.4% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, equivalent to $0.92 annually and a 1.5% yield; meanwhile, insiders sold $22.4 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seventeen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $69.9524.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BKR shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Baker Hughes in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 5,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.22, for a total transaction of $326,751.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,997 shares in the company, valued at $1,027,327.34. This trade represents a 24.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 181,411 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.43, for a total value of $10,599,844.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 703,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,102,232.92. This trade represents a 20.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 367,910 shares of company stock worth $22,420,797 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 40.8% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 83,650 shares of the company's stock worth $3,676,000 after buying an additional 24,225 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in Baker Hughes by 5.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 18,481 shares of the company's stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Baker Hughes during the second quarter valued at $2,301,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Baker Hughes by 4.0% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 46,407 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,779,000 after acquiring an additional 1,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in Baker Hughes during the second quarter valued at $1,014,000. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

BKR stock opened at $60.81 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.42. The stock has a market cap of $60.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.97. Baker Hughes has a 1 year low of $41.96 and a 1 year high of $70.41. 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 (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Sunday, July 26th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm's revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. Baker Hughes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.68%.

Baker Hughes Company Profile

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.

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