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Halliburton (HAL) Flat As Market Sinks: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Halliburton (HAL - Free Report) closed at $37.89, marking no change from the previous day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 0.09% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.56%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.22%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the provider of drilling services to oil and gas operators had gained 5.87% over the past month. This has outpaced the Oils-Energy sector's gain of 3.14% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.55% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Halliburton as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, Halliburton is projected to report earnings of $0.66 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 83.33%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $5.57 billion, up 30.25% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $2.09 per share and revenue of $20.29 billion. These totals would mark changes of +93.52% and +32.63%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Halliburton. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.23% higher. Halliburton is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Investors should also note Halliburton's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 18.11. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 22.94.

The Oil and Gas - Field Services industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 29, putting it in the top 12% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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