Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Halliburton (HAL) Ascends While Market Falls: Some Facts to Note

Read MoreHide Full Article

The latest trading session saw Halliburton (HAL - Free Report) ending at $22.19, denoting a +2.02% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.27%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the provider of drilling services to oil and gas operators had gained 2.06% lagged the Oils-Energy sector's gain of 4.61% and the S&P 500's gain of 6.9%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Halliburton in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $0.57, reflecting a 28.75% decrease from the same quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $5.46 billion, indicating a 6.42% decline compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.37 per share and a revenue of $21.87 billion, representing changes of -20.74% and -4.7%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Halliburton. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.86% lower. Right now, Halliburton possesses a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

From a valuation perspective, Halliburton is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 9.16. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 15.28 of its industry.

Meanwhile, HAL's PEG ratio is currently 3.39. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Oil and Gas - Field Services industry held an average PEG ratio of 3.54.

The Oil and Gas - Field Services industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 134, placing it within the bottom 46% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Halliburton Company (HAL) - free report >>

Published in