Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The oilfield services company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.03), Zacks reports. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.04% and a return on equity of 28.33%.

Halliburton Price Performance

Shares of HAL opened at $29.50 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Halliburton has a twelve month low of $25.51 and a twelve month high of $41.56. The company has a market cap of $25.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.91.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. Halliburton’s payout ratio is currently 23.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HAL shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Halliburton from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $33.00 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Halliburton from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Halliburton from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Halliburton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.26.

Halliburton Company 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.