Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) posted its earnings results on Friday. The oil and gas company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02, Zacks reports. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 21.84%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9,241,140 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Schlumberger Trading Up 6.1 %

NYSE:SLB opened at $43.58 on Friday. Schlumberger has a 52 week low of $36.52 and a 52 week high of $55.69. The stock has a market cap of $61.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Schlumberger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This is a boost from Schlumberger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Schlumberger’s payout ratio is 35.37%.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In other Schlumberger news, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $2,514,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 211,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,880,160.30. The trade was a 22.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Griffin Securities downgraded shares of Schlumberger from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Schlumberger from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Schlumberger from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Schlumberger from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.03.

About Schlumberger

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.