Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Cut to Sector Perform at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $37.00 price objective on the oilfield services company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $44.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Halliburton from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Halliburton from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Halliburton from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $44.47.

Halliburton Stock Down 0.5 %

Halliburton stock opened at $27.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.67 billion, a PE ratio of 9.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.90 and a 200 day moving average of $35.05. Halliburton has a one year low of $27.52 and a one year high of $43.85.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.80. The business had revenue of $5.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 29.97%. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 23.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total transaction of $367,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 273,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,066,119. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HAL. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Halliburton by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 14,027 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its holdings in Halliburton by 1.7% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 18,325 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $722,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Halliburton by 28.8% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Halliburton by 3.1% during the second quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 10,847 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its position in Halliburton by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 11,842 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Company Profile

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems.