StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL – Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the oilfield services company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on HAL. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Halliburton from an underperform rating to an outperform rating and set a $51.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $43.90 to $57.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. They set a buy rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $48.67.

Halliburton Stock Down 3.4 %

HAL stock opened at $29.95 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.32. Halliburton has a 12 month low of $23.30 and a 12 month high of $43.99. The company has a market cap of $27.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The oilfield services company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. Halliburton had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 26.25%. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 1st will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is a boost from Halliburton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 28th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

Insider Activity at Halliburton

In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 2,769 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.79, for a total value of $107,409.51. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,894.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.60, for a total transaction of $182,967.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 245,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,468,140.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 2,769 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.79, for a total transaction of $107,409.51. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,856 shares in the company, valued at $459,894.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 44,878 shares of company stock valued at $1,763,947. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Halliburton

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 178.7% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 35,196 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 22,567 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 770,424 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $30,316,000 after purchasing an additional 301,719 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth about $619,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 76,958 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,027,000 after purchasing an additional 20,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 83,770 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Halliburton Company Profile

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Halliburton Co engages in the provision of services and products to the energy industry related to the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. It operates through the Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation segments. The Completion and Production segment delivers cementing, stimulation, intervention, pressure control, specialty chemicals, artificial lift, and completion services.