Brokerages Set Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) PT at $43.59

Shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seventeen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.12.

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKR. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Baker Hughes from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKR opened at $37.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.27. Baker Hughes has a 52 week low of $28.32 and a 52 week high of $39.05. The firm has a market cap of $37.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $35.70 and its 200-day moving average is $34.39.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 7.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Baker Hughes will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. Baker Hughes’s payout ratio is currently 46.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 114,286 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 502,053 shares in the company, valued at $17,571,855. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Baker Hughes during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Alta Advisers Ltd purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Baker Hughes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 81.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

About Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes Company provides a portfolio of technologies and services to energy and industrial value chain worldwide. The company operates through Oilfield Services & Equipment (OFSE) and Industrial & Energy Technology (IET) segments. The OFSE segment designs and manufactures products and provides related services, including exploration, appraisal, development, production, rejuvenation, and decommissioning for onshore and offshore oilfield operations.