Of 27 analysts covering Halliburton, 21 have given the shares a Buy or Strong Buy rating and four more have Hold ratings. At a recent price of around $40.20 a share, the stock had outrun its median price target of $38.00. At the high target of $50, the implied gain is about 25%.

First-quarter revenue is forecast to come in at $4.20 billion, which would be down 1.8% sequentially but up 21.7% year over year. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) are forecast at $0.34, down 4.7% sequentially and up 79% year over year. For the full 2022 fiscal year, analysts are currently forecasting EPS of $1.80, up 66.4%, on sales of $18.31 billion, up 19.7%.

Halliburton stock trades at 22.4 times expected 2022 EPS, 16.6 times estimated 2023 earnings of $2.43 and 14.3 times estimated 2024 earnings of $2.81 per share. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $17.82 to $40.76, and the company pays an annual dividend of $0.18 (yield of 1.19%). Halliburton’s total shareholder return for the past year was 96.3%.

Johnson & Johnson

Over the past 12 months, pharmaceuticals giant and Dow Jones industrial average component Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) has added about 14.6% to its share price. Earlier this week, a California appeals court cut the company’s fine for deceptive marketing of a vaginal mesh implant by $42 million, reducing the penalty to $303 million. New CEO Joaquin Duato is a 30-year company veteran who has predicted that the coming changes in health care in the next decade will be more transforming than all the improvements in the past century.

Of 19 brokerages covering the company, eight have Buy or Strong Buy ratings on the stock and 10 others rate the shares at Hold. At a share trading price of around $180.70, the upside potential based on a median price target of $182.00 is just 0.7%. At the high target of $215, the upside potential is 19%.

First-quarter revenue is forecast at $23.64 billion, down 4.7% sequentially and up 5.9% year over year. Adjusted EPS are expected to come in at $2.59, up 21.5% sequentially and flat year over year. For the full 2022 fiscal year, analysts expect EPS of $10.52, up 7.3%, on sales of $99.43 billion, up 6%.

Shares trade at 17.2 times expected 2022 EPS, 16.4 times estimated 2023 earnings of $11.02 and 15.9 times estimated 2024 earnings of $11.37 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $155.72 to $184.20. The company pays an annual dividend of $4.19 (yield of 2.35%). Total shareholder return for the past year was 16.2%.

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) is the country’s largest defense contractor, measured by federal dollars obligated in 2020. Some $75.2 billion was awarded to the company’s defense businesses that year, and Lockheed received 13.5% of all federal contract dollars in 2020 and 20.5% of defense dollars. Over the past 12 months, the company’s stock has added nearly 25%.