Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) will be the first of the oil services giants to report earnings for this earnings season when the company reports on Friday morning. Needless to say, but we will be paying attention to its market safety commentary in its fields of operation around the world. Earnings estimates from Thomson Reuters are $1.09 EPS and $10.79 billion in revenues.
Shares rose 3% to $72.86 on Thursday versus a 52-week trading range of $54.79 to $95.64. The reason for the gain was in part a 10% dividend hike, which will put the yield above 1.6% now. Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of $90.55 on this stock. Keep in mind that Schlumberger is the king of oil services and its market cap is almost $98 billion.
Thursday was an interesting day as far as Schlumberger’s chart is concerned. The stock jumped to $72.86 and that took it above the 50-day moving average of $70.78. The more important 200-day moving average is up higher at $77.07. The last time Schlumberger was above its 200-day moving average was in early August-2011.
Keep in mind that Schlumberger trades on average about 9.5 million shares a day.
JON C. OGG
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