Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Receives Buy Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $42.00 price objective on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Baker Hughes from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Baker Hughes from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.12.

Baker Hughes Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of BKR stock opened at $36.78 on Thursday. Baker Hughes has a 12-month low of $28.32 and a 12-month high of $39.05. The company has a market capitalization of $36.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

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

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 114,286 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $4,000,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 502,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,571,855. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,364,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,729,000 after acquiring an additional 4,207,973 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Baker Hughes by 7.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,898,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,074,000 after purchasing an additional 680,621 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 8.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,723,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,801,000 after purchasing an additional 692,859 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 3.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,274,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,005,000 after purchasing an additional 248,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 10.2% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,609,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,405,000 after purchasing an additional 612,715 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Baker Hughes Company Profile

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.