Short Interest in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Rises By 9.3%

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 19,190,000 shares, a growth of 9.3% from the September 15th total of 17,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,540,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In related news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 114,286 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $4,000,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 502,053 shares in the company, valued at $17,571,855. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BKR. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Baker Hughes during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Alta Advisers Ltd purchased a new position in Baker Hughes during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Baker Hughes in the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in Baker Hughes by 46.9% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Baker Hughes from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.59.

Baker Hughes Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Baker Hughes stock traded up $0.42 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,188,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,246,181. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.23. Baker Hughes has a 1-year low of $28.32 and a 1-year high of $39.05. The company has a market cap of $36.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 7.37%. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Baker Hughes will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Baker Hughes’s payout ratio is currently 46.93%.

About Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes Company provides a portfolio of technologies and services to energy and industrial value chain worldwide. The company operates through Oilfield Services & Equipment (OFSE) and Industrial & Energy Technology (IET) segments. The OFSE segment designs and manufactures products and provides related services, including exploration, appraisal, development, production, rejuvenation, and decommissioning for onshore and offshore oilfield operations.