Argus Upgrades Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) 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 Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.12.

Baker Hughes Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ BKR opened at $37.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.89, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $35.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.27. Baker Hughes has a 52 week low of $28.32 and a 52 week high of $39.05.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.91 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is 46.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In other Baker Hughes news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 114,286 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 502,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,571,855. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Baker Hughes

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BKR. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 23,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 98.7% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 50,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,676,000 after purchasing an additional 24,850 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 147,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,950,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 217,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,441 shares in the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.