Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Raises Stake in Halliburton Company $HAL

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR raised its position in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 9.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 214,400 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after buying an additional 19,096 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $4,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Halliburton by 87.4% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in Halliburton in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Halliburton by 109.5% in the second quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 756.2% during the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,132 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,883 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $22.36 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.73. Halliburton Company has a 1 year low of $18.72 and a 1 year high of $32.57.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.55. The company had revenue of $5.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.43 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 8.37% and a return on equity of 21.45%. Halliburton’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 31.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HAL. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Zephirin Group boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $41.00 price objective for the company. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.61.

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.