Pzena Investment Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Halliburton Company $HAL

Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,925,702 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,278,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in Halliburton by 128.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,284,612 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $89,077,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,095 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton during the 4th quarter worth $827,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 172.6% during the 4th quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 110,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $3,109,000 after purchasing an additional 69,644 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 373,949 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $10,568,000 after purchasing an additional 67,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Halliburton during the fourth quarter worth $3,731,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

HAL stock opened at $34.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.48. Halliburton Company has a 12-month low of $20.78 and a 12-month high of $43.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $29.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.73.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.50 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.16%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 35.60%.

Insider Transactions at Halliburton

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total transaction of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. This represents a 14.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HAL shares. BMO Capital Markets set a $37.00 price objective on Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zephirin Group increased their target price on Halliburton from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.10.

Halliburton Profile

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company’s activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.