Wall Street Zen Upgrades Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) to Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Halliburton from “hold” to “buy,” while analysts overall maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $43.10.
• Halliburton exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.55 in adjusted EPS versus a $0.54 estimate and $5.71 billion in revenue versus $5.50 billion expected; revenue increased 3.7% year over year.
• Shares opened at $32.22, below the analyst consensus target, but recent insider selling and cautious guidance have tempered investor sentiment despite the positive ratings and earnings beat.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Sunday.

HAL has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.10.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $32.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $20.39 and a twelve month high of $43.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.88 and a 200-day moving average of $36.46.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total value of $852,377.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 93,763 shares in the company, valued at $3,927,732.07. The trade was a 17.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,382.80. The trade was a 14.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 243,475 shares of company stock worth $9,931,490 in the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 196.4% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 981 shares of the oilfield services company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Halliburton News

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Beetaloo Energy to support a proposed gas-to-power project linked to an artificial-intelligence data center in Australia’s Northern Territory. The opportunity could create future work in drilling, production and energy infrastructure, although it is not yet a firm contract. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerages maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” recommendation for HAL, offering some support after the stock’s recent weakness. Halliburton consensus recommendation
• Neutral Sentiment: Halliburton stock rose in the latest session but continued to underperform the broader market, indicating that investors remain cautious despite the recent bounce. MarketWatch stock performance article
• Negative Sentiment: UBS said Halliburton’s soft third-quarter guidance is weighing on the stock. The cautious outlook raises concerns about weaker oilfield-services demand, pricing or international activity in the near term. UBS Halliburton outlook article

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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