Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Baker Hughes currently has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 22 covering analysts, with 18 buy ratings and an average price target of about $69.18.
• The company beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting $0.58 EPS versus the $0.49 estimate, while revenue came in at $6.59 billion and rose 2.5% year over year.
• Insider selling was notable, including sales by CEO Lorenzo Simonelli and insider Maria Georgia Magno, while institutional investors still hold a dominant 92.06% of the stock.

Shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-two analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.1818.

BKR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Baker Hughes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $69.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Johnson Rice initiated coverage on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $62.00) on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In related news, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 5,063 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.04, for a total value of $298,919.52. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,555 shares in the company, valued at $918,367.20. The trade was a 24.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,594 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.79, for a total transaction of $16,025,801.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 866,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,938,242.76. This trade represents a 23.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 550,250 shares of company stock worth $32,988,331. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKR. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter worth about $778,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,755,743 shares of the company's stock worth $125,813,000 after purchasing an additional 309,996 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,147,684 shares of the company's stock worth $348,234,000 after purchasing an additional 367,728 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 829,816 shares of the company's stock worth $40,429,000 after purchasing an additional 99,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 10,225.3% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 849,566 shares of the company's stock worth $41,391,000 after purchasing an additional 841,338 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Baker Hughes Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of BKR opened at $66.79 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $62.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.99. The company has a market capitalization of $66.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Baker Hughes has a 1-year low of $35.83 and a 1-year high of $70.41.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 14.17%. Baker Hughes's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Baker Hughes will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Baker Hughes's payout ratio is 29.39%.

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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