Halliburton Company (HAL) - What Are Researchers Saying About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish: 17 of 24 analysts rate Halliburton a buy, six recommend holding, and one recommends selling. The average 12-month price target is $44.10 versus a reported share price of $32.80.
• Halliburton exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.55 in earnings per share and $5.71 billion in revenue, ahead of consensus estimates. Analysts expect full-year earnings of approximately $2.34 per share.
• The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.17, equivalent to a 2.1% yield, while institutional investors own approximately 85.23% of shares.

Shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-four ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $44.10.

HAL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus decreased their price target on Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets set a $37.00 price objective on Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Halliburton Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE HAL opened at $32.80 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.50. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $21.46 and a 12 month high of $43.59. The company's fifty day moving average price is $34.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.29.

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

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 2nd. Halliburton's payout ratio is 35.60%.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, COO Jeffrey Slocum sold 52,572 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $1,844,751.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at $4,166,235.70. This trade represents a 30.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton in the second quarter worth about $2,812,327,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,870,444 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $1,930,752,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463,137 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $345,941,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 2nd quarter valued at about $337,486,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,502,988 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $370,556,000 after purchasing an additional 367,701 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Company Profile

Halliburton Company NYSE: HAL is a global provider of products and services for the energy industry. The company supports the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas through technologies and services used throughout the life cycle of a well.

Halliburton operates through two primary business segments: Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. Its offerings include cementing, stimulation, well completion, production enhancement, drilling services, drilling fluids, well testing, wireline and perforating services, formation evaluation, and project management.

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