Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $40.96 and last traded at $40.53, with a volume of 198614 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BKR. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Baker Hughes from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Baker Hughes from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.12.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $41.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.64.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.21 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 13.77% and a net margin of 8.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Analysts expect that Baker Hughes will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 114,286 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 502,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,571,855. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Twin Tree Management LP raised its position in Baker Hughes by 183.0% during the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 338,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,348,000 after acquiring an additional 219,060 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 20.5% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 726,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,544,000 after buying an additional 123,689 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Baker Hughes by 4.7% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 869,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,129,000 after buying an additional 39,031 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,424,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,523,000 after purchasing an additional 455,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Baker Hughes in the 1st quarter valued at $1,431,000. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.