BMO Capital Markets Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets in a research note issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $53.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $46.00. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 17.65% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.47.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

Shares of BKR stock opened at $45.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $44.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.91. Baker Hughes has a 52 week low of $32.25 and a 52 week high of $49.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.02.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.08. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 11.04%. The business had revenue of $6.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Baker Hughes will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Baker Hughes news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 526,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.42, for a total value of $23,390,150.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 667,593 shares in the company, valued at $29,654,481.06. This trade represents a 44.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Baker Hughes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hixon Zuercher LLC increased its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 2.5% during the second quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC now owns 60,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,477 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Brian Low Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Baker Hughes during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $812,000. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its position in Baker Hughes by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 5,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Baker Hughes by 0.8% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,939,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,682,000 after buying an additional 24,206 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

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.