Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Sunday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on HAL. UBS Group reduced their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Halliburton from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.10.

Halliburton Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Halliburton stock opened at $32.22 on Friday. Halliburton has a 1 year low of $20.39 and a 1 year high of $43.59. The firm has a market cap of $26.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.49.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Halliburton will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 35.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael Casey Maxwell sold 20,348 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $852,377.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 93,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,927,732.07. This represents a 17.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,382.80. The trade was a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 243,475 shares of company stock valued at $9,931,490. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HAL. Ballast Inc. increased its position in Halliburton by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 50,273 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 5,730 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Halliburton by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 120,423 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $4,088,000 after purchasing an additional 3,256 shares in the last quarter. Tema ETFs LLC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 17,617 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares during the period. G&S Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 66.2% in the 2nd quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 17,315 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 6,898 shares during the period. Finally, BFI Infinity Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. BFI Infinity Ltd. now owns 120,276 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $4,083,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304 shares in the last quarter. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Halliburton News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Beetaloo Energy to support a proposed gas-to-power project linked to an artificial-intelligence data center in Australia’s Northern Territory. The opportunity could create future work in drilling, production and energy infrastructure, although it is not yet a firm contract. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerages maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” recommendation for HAL, offering some support after the stock’s recent weakness. Halliburton consensus recommendation
• Neutral Sentiment: Halliburton stock rose in the latest session but continued to underperform the broader market, indicating that investors remain cautious despite the recent bounce. MarketWatch stock performance article
• Negative Sentiment: UBS said Halliburton’s soft third-quarter guidance is weighing on the stock. The cautious outlook raises concerns about weaker oilfield-services demand, pricing or international activity in the near term. UBS Halliburton outlook article

About Halliburton

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company’s activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.