SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on SLB, with 18 buy, two strong-buy, two hold, and one sell rating among 23 firms. The average 12-month price target is $61.65, above the reported $55.99 share price.
• SLB exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.55 in earnings per share versus the $0.51 consensus and $8.97 billion in revenue versus $8.67 billion expected. Revenue increased 5% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share, or $1.18 annualized, representing a 2.1% yield; institutional investors own approximately 81.99% of SLB stock.

Shares of SLB Limited (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-three research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, eighteen have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $61.65.

Several analysts recently commented on SLB shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of SLB in a report on Sunday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on SLB from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of SLB in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of SLB in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of SLB from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th.

Institutional Trading of SLB

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLB. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in SLB by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,611 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new stake in SLB during the fourth quarter valued at about $238,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in SLB during the second quarter valued at about $8,628,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC increased its position in SLB by 76.0% in the second quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 24,373 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 10,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its position in SLB by 7.6% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,326 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLB Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of SLB stock opened at $55.99 on Friday. SLB has a 12-month low of $31.64 and a 12-month high of $60.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm's 50 day moving average is $51.67 and its 200 day moving average is $51.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.76.

SLB (NYSE:SLB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $8.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.67 billion. SLB had a net margin of 8.53% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Research analysts expect that SLB will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

SLB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 2nd. SLB's payout ratio is 57.00%.

About SLB

SLB, formerly known as Schlumberger Limited, is a global technology and services company serving the energy industry. The company provides equipment, technology and technical expertise that help oil and gas producers locate, drill, complete and operate wells, as well as manage reservoirs and production assets.

Its offerings include seismic and subsurface evaluation, drilling and well-construction services, well completion and stimulation, artificial lift, production optimization, intervention services, subsea production systems and digital solutions.

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