Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

BKR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Argus upped their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Baker Hughes from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.95.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKR opened at $58.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $58.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.96. Baker Hughes has a 1 year low of $41.96 and a 1 year high of $70.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its earnings results on Sunday, July 26th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.13. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 11.17%.The firm had revenue of $6.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Baker Hughes’s payout ratio is 29.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Baker Hughes

In related news, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 5,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.22, for a total transaction of $326,751.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,027,327.34. This represents a 24.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 181,411 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.43, for a total transaction of $10,599,844.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 703,444 shares in the company, valued at $41,102,232.92. This trade represents a 20.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 367,910 shares of company stock worth $22,420,797. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. EFG International AG bought a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in Baker Hughes by 344.1% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Baker Hughes News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter results exceeded expectations. Baker Hughes reported adjusted EPS of $0.64 versus the $0.51 consensus and revenue of $6.74 billion, above estimates of $6.54 billion. Revenue increased 2.4% year over year, while strong cash flow and expanding margins supported the outlook. Baker Hughes earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Energy Technology orders and backlog are key growth drivers. IET orders surged 49%, reaching a record level, and the company highlighted robust backlog growth and margin expansion. These trends are helping offset weaker near-term drilling activity. Baker Hughes Q2 earnings analysis
• Positive Sentiment: A major LNG contract strengthens the long-term story. Baker Hughes secured a comprehensive liquefaction-technology order from Venture Global for the CP2 LNG expansion in Louisiana. The award reinforces exposure to LNG infrastructure and rising power demand from artificial-intelligence data centers. Baker Hughes Venture Global LNG order
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support improved. Susquehanna raised its price target from $70 to $72 and assigned a positive rating, while Piper Sandler maintained its Buy rating. A separate Wall Street Zen upgrade also adds to favorable sentiment.
• Neutral Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue guidance was broadly in line. Baker Hughes forecast revenue of approximately $6.9 billion, matching consensus, offering limited incremental upside from guidance alone. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share.
• Negative Sentiment: Management expects global oil-and-gas producer spending to decline modestly in 2026. Growth in Latin America, offshore Africa, and North American land activity is expected to be offset by reduced spending in Europe and the Middle East, creating a headwind for conventional oilfield services. Baker Hughes spending outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and positioning may be limiting gains. One analysis characterized BKR as fairly valued after its recent operational improvement and cautioned that Middle East tensions and AI-related power demand could reverse. Unusually heavy put-option buying also signals increased near-term hedging or bearish speculation.

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.