Stifel Nicolaus Lowers Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Price Target to $37.00

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had its price target reduced by Stifel Nicolaus from $42.00 to $37.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the oilfield services company’s stock.

HAL has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of Halliburton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on Halliburton from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Halliburton from $39.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Halliburton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.42.

Halliburton Trading Down 0.5 %

Halliburton stock opened at $27.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $24.45 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.05. Halliburton has a one year low of $25.51 and a one year high of $41.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.99.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). Halliburton had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 26.03%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Halliburton’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Halliburton by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,610 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Halliburton by 0.3% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 154,210 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $4,480,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,759 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Northwest Bank & Trust Co raised its position in Halliburton by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 12,979 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Halliburton by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.