Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $33.03 and last traded at $31.7980, with a volume of 1325911 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HAL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Halliburton from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Halliburton from $28.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $35.00 price target (up from $28.00) on shares of Halliburton in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Rothschild Redb raised shares of Halliburton to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.71.

Halliburton Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The oilfield services company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 20.12% and a net margin of 5.91%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Halliburton Company will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Halliburton’s payout ratio is 45.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halliburton news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 8,854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.89, for a total transaction of $246,938.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 333,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,302,095.92. This trade represents a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lawrence J. Pope sold 100,000 shares of Halliburton stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.25, for a total transaction of $3,225,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 419,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,538,550. The trade was a 19.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 268,854 shares of company stock worth $7,915,138 in the last three months. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in Halliburton in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $287,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Halliburton by 82.1% in the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 48,900 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 22,045 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in shares of Halliburton by 29.7% in the second quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,081,928 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $22,050,000 after purchasing an additional 248,015 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new position in shares of Halliburton during the second quarter valued at $2,595,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Halliburton by 82.4% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 42,482 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $866,000 after buying an additional 19,186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Halliburton Company Profile

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.