Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Melius Research

Key Points

• Melius Research has initiated coverage on Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) with a buy rating and a price target of $41.00, suggesting a potential upside of 96.52% from the current stock price.
• Fourteen research analysts have rated Halliburton's stock as a 'Buy', while the consensus target price among analysts is $32.00.
• Halliburton's earnings report indicated a 5.5% decline in quarterly revenue year-over-year, with an EPS of $0.55 meeting analysts' expectations.

Equities researchers at Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $41.00 price target on the oilfield services company's stock. Melius Research's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 96.52% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Halliburton to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Halliburton from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Melius initiated coverage on Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $41.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Halliburton Stock Performance

HAL stock traded down $0.2470 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.8630. The stock had a trading volume of 1,736,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,617,299. The stock has a market cap of $17.79 billion, a PE ratio of 9.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.46. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $18.72 and a 52-week high of $32.57.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55. The company had revenue of $5.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 8.37%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HAL. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 232,573 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $6,324,000 after buying an additional 3,041 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 46,866 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $1,274,000 after buying an additional 6,361 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Halliburton by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 543,670 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $14,782,000 after acquiring an additional 320,336 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC increased its position in Halliburton by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 12,262 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 2,177 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in Halliburton by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 84,675 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Halliburton

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems.

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