Halliburton (HAL) Competitors

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) and Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) are both large-cap energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings and media sentiment.

Is HAL or BKR more profitable?

Baker Hughes has a net margin of 11.04% compared to Halliburton's net margin of 8.37%. Halliburton's return on equity of 21.45% beat Baker Hughes' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Halliburton	8.37%	21.45%	8.85%
Baker Hughes	11.04%	14.56%	6.53%

Do analysts rate HAL or BKR?

Halliburton presently has a consensus price target of $32.05, indicating a potential upside of 44.01%. Baker Hughes has a consensus price target of $52.29, indicating a potential upside of 16.81%. Given Halliburton's higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Halliburton is more favorable than Baker Hughes.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Halliburton	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64
Baker Hughes	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	20 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.87

Do insiders & institutionals believe in HAL or BKR?

85.2% of Halliburton shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.1% of Baker Hughes shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Halliburton shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Baker Hughes shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, HAL or BKR?

Baker Hughes has higher revenue and earnings than Halliburton. Halliburton is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Baker Hughes, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Halliburton	$22.23B	0.85	$2.50B	$2.14	10.40
Baker Hughes	$27.83B	1.59	$2.98B	$3.06	14.63

Does the media prefer HAL or BKR?

In the previous week, Halliburton had 11 more articles in the media than Baker Hughes. MarketBeat recorded 45 mentions for Halliburton and 34 mentions for Baker Hughes. Baker Hughes' average media sentiment score of 1.18 beat Halliburton's score of 1.01 indicating that Baker Hughes is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Halliburton	27 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Baker Hughes	24 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is HAL or BKR a better dividend stock?

Halliburton pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Baker Hughes pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Halliburton pays out 31.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Baker Hughes pays out 30.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Halliburton has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Baker Hughes has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Which has more volatility & risk, HAL or BKR?

Halliburton has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Baker Hughes has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Baker Hughes beats Halliburton on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.