The merger that has been going on forever in the energy sector has been extended yet again.
The deal between Halliburton Company and Bakers Hughes is still hanging on by a thread as the regulatory authorities have extended their decision making process. The regulatory authority that has been causing problems in the current deal is ACCC – Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. The deal has not been completed solely because of the ACCC as it has extended the announcement of the decision to December 2015.
The oil and gas major company had initially planned on finalizing and closing the deal before the end of the current year but due to the extension made by the Australian regulatory authority, the deal seems like quite a challenge for the company. A request by both of the energy companies have been made to the United States Department of Justice (DoJ).According to the request, they want the Department of Justice to postpone its review and close it as early as possible by the December 2015.
The crude oil prices, since July of2014 have dropped by as much as 50% due to which all of the oil service providers have suffered with their share price and prices per gallons. In a year, the energy major has fallen as much as 21.51% and the other energy company that Halliburton is merging with Baker Hughes has dropped by 19.35%. The crude oil prices are not the only prices in the energy business that have fallen in a year’s time, the oil production levels has fallen significantly in that time period as well. Both the companies need to take advantage of economies of scale along with probably lowering average costs to manage their expenses and in order to cut costs.
There is apparently a conflict of interest among the regulatory and the energy giants. As for the regulatory authority the deal brings an added responsibility of regulating the social benefits of the deal along with its cost while for the energy service providers, there’s a good commercial prospect. One of the energy service providers, Halliburton is considered as the second largest energy company while Baker Hughes is almost on the third. If the merger is a success, this could bring a huge new entity to the market that will be a major leader and it will decrease the shares of the smaller energy companies.
On the trading session that was held on Monday, Halliburton’s stock increase by 0.92%, which added the company’s shares to the gainers list. During the session, the highest level to which the share price of the energy company was seen at $38.45 and $38.35 at the lower level.
The oil digging company has experienced an eminent loss in the short interest shares which has been recorded at 6.3 percent.
In the most recent news about oil companies, it emerged as a fact that Halliburton Company experienced a fall in the short interest shares of the firm on the stock index by a massive change of 6.3 percent. As for the record noted down on May 29 2015, the short interest shares were recorded at 44,013,064 shares and the days to cover have come around at 4, considering the shares traded on a daily basis are at 10,749,017. As for the outstanding shares that are found on the stock index, it was seen that the interest of those shares also declined by a massive 5.2% which is not being taken in a positive manner by analysts.
Halliburton has also reported a number of insiders selling and buying transactions in filings presented to the Securities Exchange Commission in which it was seen that on May 5, the President of the oil digging company carried out a selling transaction within the stock of the oil firm in which he was seen to be selling around 6,000 shares at an average price of $50. On a whole, the revenue generated through the selling turned out to be around $300,000.
On the other hand, it was seen that the oil field services providing company was covered by various analysts at different brokerage firms. JP Morgan was seen giving guidance to the investors by giving Halliburton shares a rating of an ‘overweight’ along with an indication that suggested them to sell their shares as the price target has been set by the analysts of the equity firm at $56.
On Tuesday, June 9, 2015, Halliburton stock seemed to be going through an active trade session in which the shares ended up going down by around 0.14 points. The share price that was recorded by the end of the day came around to be $45.28. The lowest point that the shares were seen touching during the day was noted down at $45.26 whereas the highest point was at $46.07. The oil field company has a market value that is worth $38.528 million.
Halliburton has around 850,874,000 shares that have been offered to the general public for ownership. In the past year, the firm witnessed its shares reaching the highest position with a share price of $74.33 whereas the lowest that was experienced was at $37.21. The 52-week high value of the shares has been printed out at $74.33 and, on the other hand, the 52 week low of the energy company has turned out to be at $37.21.
The oil company has been trading downwards in the recent trade sessions due to which the analysts have come out to be quite bearish about the stock.
According to the most current Halliburton news, it has emerged as a fact that the firm has been witnessing some issues in the oil field services industry due to which many equity firms covering the stock of the firm have updated their analysis. As per the latest analysis made by the analysts at Zacks, it has become evident that the oil company has been provided with a ‘hold’ rating on the shares with the grade 3 ranking to the oil stock.
The average rating that has been received by around twenty-six analysts at the Wall Street has suggested a 1.85 rating to the shares of the energy firm. On the other hand, sixteen other analysts who have made coverage on the company’s stock activities seem to believe that the shares deserve a ‘strong buy’ rating, while only one analyst has granted a ‘buy’ rating to the oil firm’s stock.
Around seven significant brokerage firms who have been keeping a close eye on the company’s activities in the business, field have presumed a ‘hold’ rating for the shares. Only one equity firm thinks that the shares of the oil field services company deserve a ‘sell’ rating.
Furthermore, it was seen that analysts at brokerage firm Jefferies raised the target on Halliburton shares to a massive $60 from $54 which was previously given by the same analysts. As for the ranking, a ‘buy’ rating has been given by the Jefferies analysts to the energy oil company. If the consensus rating is taken into consideration, it will be seen that around $55.33 have been fixed by most of the analysts who have been studying the oil stock closely.
In near future, it has to be noted that fluctuation is also been expected to take place from the current target that has been set by analysts. The highest point that is expected for the firm to reach is with a share price of $83 while the lowest that is predicted by financial gurus is to reach a figure of $40.
The oil field services company has been witnessing some issues regarding the fluctuating pace of the oil prices on a global level which is why in the Friday’s trading session; the share price received an eminent downfall by 0.25 points. At the time the firm started its trade, the shares was recorded to be at a price of $45.64 and the highest it reached for the day came about to be at $46.38. However, this pace eventually experienced a dip as, by the end of the day, the firm closed the day’s trade with a share price of $45.54.
