Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Baker Hughes Company $BKR

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,202,589 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 43,300 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Baker Hughes were worth $73,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BKR. EFG International AG bought a new position in shares of Baker Hughes during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in Baker Hughes by 344.1% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Baker Hughes in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Baker Hughes during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.06% of the company’s stock.

Baker Hughes Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKR opened at $56.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.01 and its 200 day moving average is $59.56. Baker Hughes Company has a fifty-two week low of $38.47 and a fifty-two week high of $70.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.13.

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. Baker Hughes had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 14.17%. Baker Hughes’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Baker Hughes Company will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Baker Hughes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. Baker Hughes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.39%.

Insider Transactions at Baker Hughes

In related news, CAO Rebecca L. Charlton sold 5,088 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.22, for a total value of $326,751.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,027,327.34. This represents a 24.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli sold 181,411 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.43, for a total transaction of $10,599,844.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 703,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,102,232.92. The trade was a 20.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 367,910 shares of company stock valued at $22,420,797. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BKR shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Baker Hughes from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Baker Hughes in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Baker Hughes from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. HSBC raised their price target on Baker Hughes from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Baker Hughes in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Baker Hughes currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

Baker Hughes Profile

Baker Hughes is an energy technology company that provides a broad portfolio of products, services and digital solutions for the oil and gas and industrial markets. Its offerings span oilfield services and equipment — including drilling, evaluation, completion and production technologies — as well as turbomachinery, compressors and related process equipment used in midstream and downstream operations. The company also supplies aftermarket services, field support and integrated solutions designed to improve asset performance and uptime across the energy value chain.

The firm’s roots trace back to the merger of Baker International and Hughes Tool Company, and more recently it combined with GE’s oil and gas business in 2017 to form Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE); subsequent changes in ownership restored Baker Hughes as an independent publicly traded company.