Stock Update (NYSE:HAL): EU opens probe into Halliburton’s planned purchase of Baker Hughes

[Reuters] – The European Commission said on Tuesday it had launched an in-depth investigation into Halliburton’s planned purchase of its oilfield services rival Baker Hughes. Halliburton Co offered in November 2014 … Read more on this. Halliburton Company (HAL) , with a current value of $26.93B, started the session at $31.95. Looking at today’s trading action, the company’s one day range from $30.61 to $32.10 and has traded between $30.61 and $50.20 over the past 12 months. HAL shares are currently priced at 21.32x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 2.73x forward p/e ratio. The company pays shareholders $0.72 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.22%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 34 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $0.24 per share, which would be $0.95 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.03 sequential decrease. What we find to be interesting is that the full-year EPS estimate of $1.48 is a $2.54 worse when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $5.11 Billion. If realized, that would be a 41.73% decrease over the year-ago quarter. More recently, KeyBanc Capital Mkts upgraded HAL from Sector Weight to Overweight (Jan 5, 2016). Previously, JP Morgan Initiated HAL at to Overweight. Investors should keep in mind is that the average price target is $45.42, which is 42.16% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:HAL) Similar Articles: Company Update: Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI) – EU opens probe into Halliburton’s planned purchase of Baker Hughes Market Update (NYSE:HAL): Halliburton, Baker Hughes plan more divestitures for deal approval Stock Update: Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) – EU regulators suspend review of Halliburton, Baker Hughes