Stifel Nicolaus Issues Positive Forecast for Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Stock Price

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) had its target price raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $48.00 to $54.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on BKR. Bank of America increased their price target on Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Baker Hughes from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

Shares of BKR opened at $47.40 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.03 and a 200-day moving average of $39.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $46.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39. Baker Hughes has a 1 year low of $28.32 and a 1 year high of $47.60.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.07. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 14.58%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This is a positive change from Baker Hughes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Maria C. Borras sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.77, for a total transaction of $358,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 173,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,758,730.54. This trade represents a 4.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Baker Hughes

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 135.9% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Baker Hughes in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Baker Hughes by 2,181.6% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in Baker Hughes by 1,045.1% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 889,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 811,711 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 442.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 796 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

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.