Brokerages Set Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) PT at $39.58

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.95.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Griffin Securities cut Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Halliburton from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Halliburton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday.

Halliburton Price Performance

Halliburton stock opened at $27.62 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a PE ratio of 9.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.91. Halliburton has a 52 week low of $25.51 and a 52 week high of $41.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.02). Halliburton had a net margin of 11.04% and a return on equity of 28.33%. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Country Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 101.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton during the third quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 34.2% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

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.