CWA Asset Management Group LLC Takes Position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 175,836 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,108,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. raised its stake in Halliburton by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 58,085 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $1,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 9.1% in the third quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 17,377 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 1,447 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Halliburton by 2.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,889,257 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock worth $83,933,000 after buying an additional 63,994 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council increased its stake in Halliburton by 42.6% during the third quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 15,052 shares of the oilfield services company’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 4,495 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC acquired a new position in Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $9,559,000. 85.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on HAL shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Halliburton from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America cut their target price on Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Dbs Bank began coverage on Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Halliburton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.79.

Halliburton Trading Down 1.1 %

HAL opened at $29.22 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $29.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.13. The firm has a market cap of $25.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.89. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $27.26 and a twelve month high of $41.56.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The oilfield services company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.02). Halliburton had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 29.97%. The business had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Halliburton’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Halliburton will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Halliburton’s dividend payout ratio is 22.59%.

Halliburton Profile

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems.