Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $67.00 and last traded at $64.83, with a volume of 10385063 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on BKR. Capital One Financial boosted their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Baker Hughes from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Johnson Rice initiated coverage on Baker Hughes in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Baker Hughes from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Baker Hughes has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.39.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $64.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.89 and a 200 day moving average of $49.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.11. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 9.33% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The business had revenue of $7.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Baker Hughes news, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 1,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.77, for a total transaction of $110,703.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $672,140.04. This trade represents a 14.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 19,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total transaction of $1,131,956.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 14,588 shares in the company, valued at $862,296.68. This represents a 56.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,001 shares of company stock worth $2,322,692. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC raised its holdings in Baker Hughes by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 5,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 42,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,944,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 7,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

About Baker Hughes

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.