Candriam S.C.A. Raises Stock Position in Halliburton Company $HAL

Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by 752.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,180 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,185 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Halliburton were worth $2,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth about $1,054,000. QV Investors Inc. bought a new stake in Halliburton in the fourth quarter worth $3,195,000. ABN Amro Investment Solutions bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth about $827,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Halliburton by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 373,949 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $10,568,000 after purchasing an additional 67,369 shares during the period. Finally, K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc raised its holdings in Halliburton by 172.6% during the 4th quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 110,000 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $3,109,000 after buying an additional 69,644 shares during the period. 85.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HAL shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Halliburton from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays raised Halliburton from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.32.

Halliburton News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Halliburton this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Halliburton won major integrated drilling and completions work from TotalEnergies for the GranMorgu deepwater project offshore Suriname, a long-term contract that adds to future revenue visibility and highlights demand for its higher-value oilfield services. Halliburton Wins Integrated Drilling and Completions Contracts for Granmorgu Deepwater Project Offshore Suriname, Operated by Totalenergies
• Positive Sentiment: Rising geopolitical tension between the U.S. and Iran has pushed oil prices higher, which tends to support upstream spending and sentiment toward oilfield services names like HAL. Fresh U.S.-Iran Conflicts Could Extend Energy Rally: 2 Bargains Remain
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler reportedly raised its view on Halliburton alongside Patterson-UTI, suggesting analysts see continued upside after a volatile year-to-date move. Halliburton, Patterson-UTI Raised at Piper Sandler Following Volatile YTD
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent headlines reiterated that Halliburton is scheduled to report earnings soon, keeping the stock in focus ahead of the print. Halliburton (HAL) Projected to Post Earnings on Tuesday

Halliburton Trading Up 0.7%

HAL stock opened at $35.46 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Halliburton Company has a 12-month low of $20.17 and a 12-month high of $43.59. The stock has a market cap of $29.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s 50-day moving average is $37.98 and its 200 day moving average is $36.18.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Halliburton had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Halliburton’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Halliburton Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Halliburton’s payout ratio is presently 37.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Eric Carre sold 24,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total transaction of $889,282.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 148,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,382.80. The trade was a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Tobi M. Young sold 6,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.72, for a total value of $255,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,230. This trade represents a 28.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 258,255 shares of company stock worth $10,550,535 over the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Halliburton

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry, offering a broad portfolio that supports the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs from exploration and drilling through production and abandonment. Founded in 1919 by Erle P. Halliburton as an oil-well cementing company, the firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has developed into an integrated oilfield services company serving upstream operators globally.

The company’s activities encompass drilling and evaluation, well construction and completion, production enhancement and well intervention.