The IBD Stock Screener is a powerful tool for building watchlists for actionable ideas to manage your portfolio. The screen offers investors different metrics to filter and identify stocks that may soon be the next market leaders. Today's Screen Of The Day pick is a top-performing oil stock.
One key metric is fund ownership. Stocks that more mutual funds are buying are attractive based on the CAN SLIM investment strategy. The Stocks Funds Are Buying screen looks for stocks that meet this key characteristic. Oil stock Halliburton is on the screen after strong earnings.
Halliburton's Strong Ratings Indicate Leadership
Halliburton is building a cup base but is still nearly 20% below a buy point of 44.09. Volume has been rising as the stock climbs from its Sept. 26 low of 23.30 and surges past its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
The stock holds third place in the oil and gas field services industry group, which ranks 11th among IBD's 197 industry groups. HAL has a near-perfect Composite Rating of 98, though the Relative Strength Rating lags at 94. Its relative strength line has been rising as the stock builds its base.
The Accumulation/Distribution Rating of A- also indicates strong institutional interest. Mutual funds own 55% of shares outstanding. With the exception of the September quarter that saw a 1% dip, more funds have been buying Halliburton stock over the past four quarters.
The energy equipment and services company has an EPS Rating of 80. The EPS Rating measures the earnings growth per share over the past two quarters along with the annual growth rate over the past three to five years.
Shares rallied 7% on Friday ahead of earnings on Tuesday. The stock got off to a jump of more than 4% Tuesday, but erased the entire gain at midday.
Strong Third-Quarter Earnings For Oil Stock
The Houston-based company provides services to oil and gas exploration and production companies. These include identifying and managing drilling conditions, constructing wells and providing other services during production. The Houston-based company operates in over 70 countries and is a leading equipment provider for oil fracking.
Third-quarter earnings more than doubled to 60 cents a share from 26 cents last year, with a 39% increase in revenue to nearly $5.4 billion over the same period. The Russia-Ukraine war increased drilling activity as Russian oil got cut off and caused Brent crude to trade at the $100 level for most of the quarter. Demand also rebounded from recent pandemic lows as drilling activity increased.
Revenue in North America spiked to $2.6 billion as international sales rose to $2.7 billion.
In March, Halliburton acquired PGS Data Management for $175 million in cash. It also suspended its operations in Russia following U.S. sanctions in the same month. In September, it sold its Russian business, valued at around $340 million.
Among exchange traded funds, Halliburton is the second-largest holding in the iShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF and the VanEck Oil Services ETF.
