Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Upgraded to “Buy” at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on BKR. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Baker Hughes from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.12.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

Baker Hughes stock opened at $37.52 on Friday. 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 P/E ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $35.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.39.

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

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In other news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 114,286 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.55, for a total transaction of $4,405,725.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 616,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,759,868.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Baker Hughes

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKR. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Baker Hughes in the first quarter valued at $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Alta Advisers Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Baker Hughes during the second quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in Baker Hughes by 81.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.