Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $62.62 and last traded at $62.4460, with a volume of 391295 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on BKR shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $59.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $55.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Baker Hughes from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on Baker Hughes from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Baker Hughes currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.00.

Baker Hughes Stock Up 1.3%

The company has a market capitalization of $61.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.64.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.09 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 9.33%.Baker Hughes’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is 35.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William G. Beattie sold 18,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total value of $1,032,537.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Maria Georgia Magno sold 19,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.11, for a total value of $1,131,956.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,588 shares in the company, valued at $862,296.68. The trade was a 56.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,001 shares of company stock worth $2,322,692. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 648,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,850,000 after buying an additional 49,108 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Baker Hughes in the third quarter worth $1,920,000. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 13.6% during the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 829,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,429,000 after acquiring an additional 99,314 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Baker Hughes by 8.7% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,800,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,026,000 after purchasing an additional 144,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in Baker Hughes by 23.9% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 458,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,334,000 after purchasing an additional 88,536 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Baker Hughes Company Profile

Baker Hughes is an energy technology company that provides a broad portfolio of products, services and digital solutions for the oil and gas and industrial markets. Its offerings span oilfield services and equipment — including drilling, evaluation, completion and production technologies — as well as turbomachinery, compressors and related process equipment used in midstream and downstream operations. The company also supplies aftermarket services, field support and integrated solutions designed to improve asset performance and uptime across the energy value chain.

The firm’s roots trace back to the merger of Baker International and Hughes Tool Company, and more recently it combined with GE’s oil and gas business in 2017 to form Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE); subsequent changes in ownership restored Baker Hughes as an independent publicly traded company.