Short Interest in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Grows By 21.6%

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 20,640,000 shares, a growth of 21.6% from the February 13th total of 16,970,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 7,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKR. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.06.

Baker Hughes Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKR opened at $43.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $43.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.90 and a 200 day moving average of $41.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.32. Baker Hughes has a one year low of $30.93 and a one year high of $49.40.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.07. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 14.58%. As a group, research analysts predict that Baker Hughes will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from Baker Hughes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Maria C. Borras sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.77, for a total transaction of $358,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 173,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,758,730.54. This represents a 4.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 11.3% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 14,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 1,505 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 13.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 544,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,681,000 after buying an additional 66,444 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 90.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 447,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,183,000 after buying an additional 212,520 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 18.7% in the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 9,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Baker Hughes by 446,900.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 4,469 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

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.