Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts remain broadly positive: Twenty-five brokerages give Halliburton an average “Moderate Buy” rating, with 18 buys, six holds and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $43.10, well above the reported $31.66 opening price.
• Halliburton beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.55 in adjusted earnings per share and $5.71 billion in revenue, while revenue increased 3.7% year over year. However, UBS cautioned that softer third-quarter guidance could weigh on near-term earnings momentum.
• The company signed a preliminary agreement to support a gas-to-power project tied to an AI data center in Australia, potentially expanding its role into energy infrastructure, though the memorandum is non-binding and does not yet provide near-term revenue certainty.

Shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-five brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and eighteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.0952.

HAL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Halliburton from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Halliburton from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Capital One Financial boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Halliburton from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 14th.

Halliburton News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Beetaloo Energy to help advance a proposed gas-to-power project linked to an artificial-intelligence data center in Australia’s Northern Territory. The potential work could involve Halliburton supporting gas development and a natural-gas power plant, creating exposure to rising energy demand from data centers. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: The Beetaloo agreement expands Halliburton’s potential role beyond traditional oilfield services into gas infrastructure supporting AI-related electricity demand. However, the agreement is preliminary and does not yet represent a firm contract or meaningful near-term revenue contribution. Beetaloo Energy MOU article
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive results from oilfield-equipment peer NOV and strong production at Expand Energy suggest some resilience across the broader energy-services and production markets. Nevertheless, these companies’ results have limited direct impact on Halliburton’s earnings. NOV earnings article
• Negative Sentiment: UBS said Halliburton’s softer third-quarter guidance is weighing on the stock. The cautious outlook raises concerns about near-term earnings momentum despite Halliburton’s recent quarterly earnings and revenue beat, leaving investors focused on weaker operating conditions and the timing of any recovery. Halliburton soft Q3 guidance article

Halliburton Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:HAL opened at $31.66 on Friday. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $20.39 and a 52 week high of $43.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.06 and a 200 day moving average of $36.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.71.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. Halliburton's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio is 35.60%.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In other news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $852,377.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 93,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,927,732.07. This represents a 17.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 198,349 shares of the firm'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 owned 146,186 shares in the company, valued at $6,036,019.94. This trade represents a 57.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold a total of 243,475 shares of company stock valued at $9,931,490 in the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HAL. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 92,754 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $2,353,000 after buying an additional 6,507 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in Halliburton by 39.0% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 73,341 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $1,861,000 after acquiring an additional 20,583 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Halliburton by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 52,045 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 10,408 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Halliburton by 309.1% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 68,946 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 52,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Halliburton in the 1st quarter worth $895,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Halliburton

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.

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