Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Key Points

• Halliburton's shares gapped up to $24.57 after the company reported quarterly earnings of $0.58 per share, exceeding expectations of $0.50.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17, reflecting a 2.8% yield and a payout ratio of 31.78%.
• Analysts have varied price targets for Halliburton, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.26.

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $22.62, but opened at $24.57. Halliburton shares last traded at $24.55, with a volume of 10,825,212 shares.

The oilfield services company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 8.37%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Halliburton's payout ratio is 31.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Halliburton from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Halliburton from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.26.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Halliburton in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 547.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,586 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 111.9% in the second quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,704 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 87.4% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $21.01 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.67.

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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