Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) is seeing a big drop in short interest

Baker Hughes ( NASDAQ:BKR – Get Your Free Report ) saw a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 17,550,000 shares, a decrease of 5.8% from the August 31st total of 18,630,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,330,000 shares, the short interest rate is currently 2.8 days.

Analysts on Wall Street are forecasting an increase

BKR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Baker Hughes from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Baker Hughes from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Baker Hughes from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a report from Wednesday, September 25. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Baker Hughes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.38, based on data from MarketBeat.

Check out our latest analysis on BKR

Insiders place their bets

In related news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 114,286 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $4,000,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 502,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,571,855. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible via this link. 0.25% of shares are currently held by company insiders.

Hedge funds influence Baker Hughes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 32.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,364,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,729,000 after buying an additional 4,207,973 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Baker Hughes by 7.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,898,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,074,000 after buying an additional 680,621 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 8.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,723,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,801,000 after acquiring an additional 692,859 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Baker Hughes by 3.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,274,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,005,000 after purchasing an additional 248,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Baker Hughes by 10.2% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,609,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,405,000 after acquiring an additional 612,715 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.06% of the company’s shares.

Baker Hughes stock performance

Shares of Baker Hughes stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $36.38. 837,213 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,391,637. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.86, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.19 and a 200-day moving average of $33.87. Baker Hughes has a 1 year low of $28.32 and a 1 year high of $39.05. The stock has a market cap of $36.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.38.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR – Get Your Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 7.37% and a return on equity of 12.45%. Baker Hughes’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. In the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. As a group, analysts expect Baker Hughes to post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Baker Hughes dividend announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a dividend of $0.84 on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.93%.

About Baker Hughes

(Get a free report)

Baker Hughes Company provides a portfolio of technologies and services for the energy and industrial value chain worldwide. The company operates through Oilfield Services & Equipment (OFSE) and Industrial & Energy Technology (IET) segments. The OFSE segment designs and manufactures products and provides related services, including exploration, evaluation, development, production, rejuvenation and decommissioning for onshore and offshore petroleum operations.

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