RBC stays at 'buy' on Hunting following trading update

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets reiterated their 'outperform' recommendation and 650.0p target price for shares of Hunting despite the headwinds that it was facing from trends in capital expenditure in the exploration and production space.

"We continue to see Hunting as competitively positioned vs peers," they said.

They further highlighted the company's attractions as a 'one stop' shop given its product portfolio and its strong balance sheet, with the latter possibly proving advantageous "should inorganic opportunities arise at depressed valuations due to negative industry news flow".

Earlier in the session, the oilfield drilling equipment outfit had provided an update that revealed a slowdown in North American drilling activity thus far in the half, that RBC said would weigh on profit margins in Hunting's Titan unit for the full-year.

The analysts were now also left forecasting Hunting's full-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisaton to come in approximately 5.0% below their previous estimate of $148.0m, mainly due to lower completion activity in the States.