Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Saturday . The stock traded as high as $47.60 and last traded at $46.18, with a volume of 21163280 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.06.

Baker Hughes Trading Up 3.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $45.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.10.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its 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 8.20% and a return on equity of 13.77%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This is a boost from Baker Hughes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Maria C. Borras sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.77, for a total value of $358,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 173,302 shares in the company, valued at $7,758,730.54. This trade represents a 4.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Baker Hughes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Baker Hughes by 6.4% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,362,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,271,000 after purchasing an additional 81,625 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. lifted its stake in Baker Hughes by 315.0% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 138,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,693,000 after purchasing an additional 105,349 shares during the last quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,180,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,053,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,233,000 after acquiring an additional 239,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 214,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,801,000 after acquiring an additional 12,178 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.