The Dividend Daily

On Friday oilfield services giant Halliburton Company (HAL) reported a steep drop in fourth quarter profit because of a slowdown of US land drilling.

The Houston, Texas-based company said its quarterly net income was $669 million, or 72 cents per share, down from $906 million, or 98 cents per share, earned in the same period a year earlier.

Income from continuing operations came in at 63 cent per share, with an adjusted EPS of 67 cents. According to FactSet, the Wall Street consensus was 61 cents per share.

The fourth quarter revenue was up +3% from $7.06 billion to $7.29 billion, a record for highest quarterly revenue in Halliburton’s history. Analysts were expecting revenue to come in at $7.06 billion.

The company, which is the world’s second largest oilfield services company, said that the decline in profits was due to a slowdown in US onshore drilling for oil, partially due to a surplus of natural gas.

For 2013, the company expects to improve on its fourth quarter results. However, for the full year results are expected to be lower than the year prior.

Halliburton shares were up $1.68, or +4.44%, during pre-market trading on Friday. The stock is up +4.45% over the past year.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Halliburton (HAL) have a .95% dividend yield, based on last night’s closing stock price of $37.81. The stock has technical support in the $34-$36 price area. If the shares can firm up, we see overhead resistance around the $40-$41 price levels.

Halliburton Company (HAL) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars.

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