Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $59.6087.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Capital One Financial lifted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on Baker Hughes from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Baker Hughes in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Baker Hughes from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th.

Insider Activity at Baker Hughes

In related news, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 1,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.77, for a total transaction of $110,703.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,052 shares in the company, valued at $672,140.04. The trade was a 14.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director William G. Beattie sold 18,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total value of $1,032,537.67. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 312,594 shares of company stock worth $18,986,302. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Baker Hughes

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKR. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its holdings in Baker Hughes by 1,005.1% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 49,353,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,247,550,000 after buying an additional 44,887,481 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Baker Hughes during the 2nd quarter worth about $862,722,000. Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the 3rd quarter valued at about $729,670,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Baker Hughes by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,635,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,896,000 after acquiring an additional 4,278,573 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Baker Hughes by 12,983.5% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,491,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,994,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464,637 shares in the last quarter. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Baker Hughes News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Baker Hughes this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Baker Hughes’ weekly rig count showed U.S. drillers added oil and gas rigs for the first time in four weeks, a sign of improving activity that supports demand for BKR’s services. US drillers add oil, gas rigs for first time in four weeks, Baker Hughes says
• Positive Sentiment: Baker Hughes successfully priced $6.5B of U.S. senior notes and €3B of euro notes across multiple maturities; the sales show investor demand and provide cash to help fund the Chart Industries takeover. Baker Hughes Successfully Prices $6.5 Billion and €3 Billion Offerings of Senior Notes
• Positive Sentiment: At least one sell-side note expects upside for BKR, providing support to the equity narrative. Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says
• Positive Sentiment: Widening geopolitical risk after the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader is reshaping energy markets; higher oil-price risk can boost activity and service revenues over time. The Iran War Is Reshaping Energy Markets and These Stocks Win Big
• Neutral Sentiment: Earlier media reports said Baker Hughes planned a ~$10B cross-border bond sale to help finance the Chart acquisition—this was a precursor to the priced notes and mostly confirms the financing plan. Baker Hughes Plans $10 Billion Bond Sale to Finance Chart Industries Acquisition
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest figures are showing zero shares (likely a data/ reporting artifact) and are not informative for current positioning. (Data entry)
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 272,593 shares (~$16.7M) on March 4, reducing his stake by ~29% — a large insider sale that can weigh on sentiment. SEC filing: SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple other recent insider sales are documented (Quiver summary), which may amplify investor concern about insider liquidity and timing around the Chart acquisition. Quiver: Debt offerings and insider activity

Baker Hughes Price Performance

Shares of Baker Hughes stock opened at $59.81 on Friday. Baker Hughes has a 1-year low of $33.60 and a 1-year high of $67.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.83.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.09 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 9.33% and a return on equity of 14.26%. Baker Hughes’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Baker Hughes will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.38%.

About Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes is an energy technology company that provides a broad portfolio of products, services and digital solutions for the oil and gas and industrial markets. Its offerings span oilfield services and equipment — including drilling, evaluation, completion and production technologies — as well as turbomachinery, compressors and related process equipment used in midstream and downstream operations. The company also supplies aftermarket services, field support and integrated solutions designed to improve asset performance and uptime across the energy value chain.

The firm’s roots trace back to the merger of Baker International and Hughes Tool Company, and more recently it combined with GE’s oil and gas business in 2017 to form Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE); subsequent changes in ownership restored Baker Hughes as an independent publicly traded company.