Zacks Research Upgrades Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) to "Hold"

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Baker Hughes from "strong sell" to "hold", adding to a generally positive analyst backdrop for the stock.
• Other firms have recently raised targets or maintained bullish views, and Baker Hughes now has 18 Buy ratings versus 4 Hold ratings with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and average target price of $69.14.
• The company reported Q1 EPS of $0.58, beating expectations, while revenue came in at $6.59 billion versus estimates of $6.71 billion; shares were down about 1.5% in Monday trading at $61.52.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BKR. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $62.00) on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Johnson Rice assumed coverage on Baker Hughes in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Finally, HSBC boosted their price target on Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Baker Hughes presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.14.

Baker Hughes Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:BKR opened at $61.52 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.93. Baker Hughes has a 12-month low of $37.38 and a 12-month high of $70.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.71 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 11.17%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 181,411 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.36, for a total transaction of $11,494,200.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 784,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,734,051.84. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 5,088 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.22, for a total value of $326,751.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,027,327.34. This trade represents a 24.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Baker Hughes

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BKR. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in Baker Hughes by 1,005.1% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 49,353,310 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,247,550,000 after acquiring an additional 44,887,481 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter valued at $1,022,491,000. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes during the third quarter valued at $729,670,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Baker Hughes by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,635,780 shares of the company's stock valued at $529,896,000 after acquiring an additional 4,278,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Baker Hughes by 12,983.5% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,491,322 shares of the company's stock valued at $158,994,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464,637 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company's stock.

Baker Hughes Company Profile

Baker Hughes is an energy technology company that provides a broad portfolio of products, services and digital solutions for the oil and gas and industrial markets. Its offerings span oilfield services and equipment — including drilling, evaluation, completion and production technologies — as well as turbomachinery, compressors and related process equipment used in midstream and downstream operations. The company also supplies aftermarket services, field support and integrated solutions designed to improve asset performance and uptime across the energy value chain.

The firm's roots trace back to the merger of Baker International and Hughes Tool Company, and more recently it combined with GE's oil and gas business in 2017 to form Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE); subsequent changes in ownership restored Baker Hughes as an independent publicly traded company.

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