Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Upgraded by Argus to “Buy”

Argus upgraded shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on BKR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.12.

Baker Hughes Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKR opened at $37.52 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.39. Baker Hughes has a 52 week low of $28.32 and a 52 week high of $39.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $37.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.38.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.21 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 7.37%. Baker Hughes’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Baker Hughes will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is 46.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 114,286 shares of Baker Hughes stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 502,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,571,855. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baker Hughes

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Baker Hughes by 32.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,364,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $581,729,000 after purchasing an additional 4,207,973 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,723,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,801,000 after buying an additional 692,859 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,898,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $348,074,000 after buying an additional 680,621 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,609,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,405,000 after buying an additional 612,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intermede Investment Partners Ltd raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 16.5% during the first quarter. Intermede Investment Partners Ltd now owns 4,284,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,526,000 after acquiring an additional 606,671 shares in the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Baker Hughes Company Profile

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.