The Dividend Daily

Analysts at Jefferies lowered estimates on Halliburton Company (HAL) on Tuesday as it is preparing for more conservative expectations in global spending next year.

The analysts lowered 2013 EPS of HAL to $3.00, down from $3.15. The firm also cut 2014 EPS from $4.45 to $4.25. Jefferies now see shares reaching $42, down from $45. The new valuation is +25% upside to Monday’s closing price of $33.54.

“We ease back our revenue and EBIT growth assumptions for HAL primarily to reflect broader conservatism — Jefferies’ global upstream capex outlook, as compiled from our oil company coverage expectations, is for flat yoy capex spending in 2013, including 2% growth outside of North America (non-NAM),” said Jefferies analyst Brad Handler.

“We are candidly a bit more optimistic than that for total upstream spending but we nevertheless believe some additional conservatism versus our recently published estimates is warranted,” he said.

Halliburton shares were down 49 cents, or -1.46%, in premarket trading on Tuesday.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Halliburton (HAL) have a 1.07% dividend yield, based on last night’s closing stock price of $33.54. The stock has technical support in the $30 price area. If the shares can firm up, we see overhead resistance around the $36-$37 price levels.

Halliburton Company (HAL) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.0 out of 5 stars.

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