Short Interest in Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) Expands By 9.3%

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 19,190,000 shares, a growth of 9.3% from the September 15th total of 17,550,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Baker Hughes news, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 114,286 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 502,053 shares in the company, valued at $17,571,855. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Baker Hughes

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 107,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,883,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the 3rd quarter valued at $796,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 178,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,465,000 after acquiring an additional 20,047 shares during the period. Magnus Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Baker Hughes during the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Baker Hughes by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 656,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,735,000 after acquiring an additional 128,031 shares during the period. 92.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

Shares of BKR stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $36.78. 667,185 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,213,450. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.53, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.38. Baker Hughes has a twelve month low of $28.32 and a twelve month high of $39.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.25.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. Baker Hughes had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 7.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Baker Hughes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Baker Hughes from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Baker Hughes from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Baker Hughes from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Baker Hughes from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Baker Hughes currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.59.

Baker Hughes Company Profile

Baker Hughes Company provides a portfolio of technologies and services to 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, appraisal, development, production, rejuvenation, and decommissioning for onshore and offshore oilfield operations.