Schlumberger Limited (SLB) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 5th

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 17th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.285 per share by the oil and gas company on Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28.

Schlumberger has raised its dividend payment by an average of 30.1% per year over the last three years. Schlumberger has a payout ratio of 30.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Schlumberger to earn $3.58 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.14 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.8%.

Schlumberger Stock Performance

Shares of SLB stock opened at $40.21 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.54. The stock has a market cap of $56.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.51. Schlumberger has a 1 year low of $36.52 and a 1 year high of $55.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.24 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. Schlumberger’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Schlumberger will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Vijay Kasibhatla sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,179,204.30. The trade was a 33.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bejar Carmen Rando sold 5,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.41, for a total value of $223,224.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,245,799.89. This trade represents a 15.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 263,782 shares of company stock worth $11,442,229 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SLB shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Schlumberger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Griffin Securities downgraded Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Schlumberger from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Schlumberger from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Schlumberger from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Schlumberger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.81.

About Schlumberger

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.