HSBC Reaffirms Buy Rating for Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB)

HSBC reissued their buy rating on shares of Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $71.00 price objective on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on SLB. Barclays reduced their target price on Schlumberger from $74.00 to $70.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Schlumberger from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a positive rating and issued a $77.00 price target on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $70.80.

Schlumberger Price Performance

Shares of Schlumberger stock opened at $55.03 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.88. Schlumberger has a 12 month low of $42.73 and a 12 month high of $62.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.85, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 12.68%. The business had revenue of $8.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Schlumberger will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Schlumberger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.25%.

Insider Transactions at Schlumberger

In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.64, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,932 shares in the company, valued at $11,816,212.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.64, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,932 shares in the company, valued at $11,816,212.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 38,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.42, for a total value of $1,944,699.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 386,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,504,523.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 172,191 shares of company stock worth $8,636,322 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SLB. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Schlumberger in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Schlumberger during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Schlumberger by 1,355.9% during the 3rd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Schlumberger Company Profile

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.