Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BKR. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Baker Hughes from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $60.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.95.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

Baker Hughes stock opened at $61.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.03 and a 200-day moving average of $60.65. Baker Hughes has a 52-week low of $41.96 and a 52-week high of $70.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.97.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its earnings results on Sunday, July 26th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Baker Hughes will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. Baker Hughes’s payout ratio is 29.68%.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In related news, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 5,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.22, for a total transaction of $326,751.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,997 shares in the company, valued at $1,027,327.34. This trade represents a 24.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 181,411 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.43, for a total transaction of $10,599,844.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 703,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,102,232.92. The trade was a 20.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 367,910 shares of company stock worth $22,420,797. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. EFG International AG bought a new position in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 344.1% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 604 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 651 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Baker Hughes during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Baker Hughes during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Baker Hughes Company Profile

Baker Hughes is an energy technology company that provides a broad portfolio of products, services and digital solutions for the oil and gas and industrial markets. Its offerings span oilfield services and equipment — including drilling, evaluation, completion and production technologies — as well as turbomachinery, compressors and related process equipment used in midstream and downstream operations. The company also supplies aftermarket services, field support and integrated solutions designed to improve asset performance and uptime across the energy value chain.

The firm’s roots trace back to the merger of Baker International and Hughes Tool Company, and more recently it combined with GE’s oil and gas business in 2017 to form Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE); subsequent changes in ownership restored Baker Hughes as an independent publicly traded company.