Hunting – well-placed to achieve strong, long-term growth, with Order Book extending, this week’s Interims will show the way, shares 488p

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 17.08.2026

Next Friday, 21^st August, the precision engineering group Hunting (LON:HTG) will announce its Interim Results for the six months to end-June.

They should show a good set of figures, with the £709m-capitalised group reiterating its confidence for the full-year’s results.

The group’s shares have risen from 246p in March last year, to over 553p in early March this year.

But that strength was knocked by Trump’s efforts in the Middle East, with the shares easing back to 415.50p by early July.

However, the contents of a timely Interim Trading Update in mid-July, has seen them stage a recovery in price to trade around 488p currently.

The Business

Hunting is a global, precision engineering group that provides precision-manufactured equipment and premium services, which add value for its customers.

Established in 1874, the Company maintains a corporate office in Houston and is headquartered in London.

As well as the UK, the Company has operations in China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.

The Company provides products and services for the energy, aviation, commercial space, defence, medical, and power generation sectors.

The Group reports in US dollars across five operating segments: Hunting Titan; North America; Subsea Technologies; Europe, Middle East and Africa ("EMEA"); and Asia Pacific.

The Group also reports revenue and EBITDA financial metrics based on five product groups: OCTG; Perforating Systems; Subsea; Advanced Manufacturing; and Other Manufacturing.

Its perforating systems include integrated gun systems, energetics and instruments for the energy sector.

The oil country tubular goods (OCTG) product offering includes premium connections, accessories, and tubing.

Connection technologies include SEAL-LOCK, WEDGE-LOCK, and TEC-LOCK, which address most oil and gas resource developments.

Its Subsea product offering comprises three sub-groups: hydraulic couplings and valves, used within subsea tree systems, and titanium stress joints.

Buyers for its products include the oil service majors such as Schlumberger, Baker Hughes & Halliburton, with which it also competes, as well as oil companies directly and a wide range of customers in other industries.

These include geothermal and carbon capture, as well as aviation, defence, space, and other specialist capital equipment applications.

Its manufacturing footprint serves those customers worldwide, and hence activity in one region may be used for projects elsewhere in the world.

The Interim Trading Update

On Wednesday 15^th July the group reported a solid H1 2026 performance with EBITDA of approximately $62.0m consistent with guidance, and a 12% EBITDA margin, reflecting a shift towards higher-growth oil and gas segments.

The company secured $63.5m in orders for its titanium stress joints in Guyana, and its Perforating Systems business exceeded expectations due to strong international demand and North American market-share gains.

While OCTG and manufacturing segments saw lower activity due to order phasing, a rebound is anticipated in H2 2026.

The sales Order Book stands at approximately $387m, up from $358m at the end of 2025, and full-year EBITDA guidance of $145m-$155m is maintained.

Management Comment

CEO Jim Johnson stated that:

"Our H1 performance has seen continued strong momentum in our Subsea and Perforating Systems businesses supporting our unchanged full-year expectations as we continue the process of rebalancing our earnings profile towards the international unconventional, offshore and subsea segments of the global oil and gas market.

Looking ahead, although the conflict in the Middle East and resultant oil price dynamics may create near-term volatility, the rigorous execution of our strategy means we will benefit from longer-term, multi-year oil and gas expansion plans, as well as an increased focus on energy security and independence and AI-driven power demand.

Our multiple product lines and global footprint provide the business with exceptional structural resilience and mean we are well positioned to continue to deliver growth and expand market share despite wider market uncertainty.

Overall, Hunting remains well-placed to achieve strong, long-term growth and increased shareholder returns."

The Equity

There are some 152.26m shares in issue.

Larger holders include Franklin Mutual Advisers (7.35%), Hunting Investments Ltd. (7.22%), UBS Asset Management (UK) (5.29%), Orbis Investment Management (5.20%), Oasis Management (5.13%), Schroder Investment Management (5.08%), abrdn Investment Management (4.41%), Rathbones Investment Management (4.06%), BlackRock Investment Management (UK) (2.11%), and AXA Investment Managers (Paris) (1.83%).

Broker Views

Some eight analysts follow the group closely, four of whom rate its shares as a Buy, one to Outperform, one to Hold and the last to Underperform.

The consensus average Target Price is 545p, the Highest at 600p and the Lowest at 478p.

Analyst Daniel Slater, at Zeus Capital, rates the shares as a Buy, with a 540p Target Price.

Referring to the Trading Update he stated that:

“Overall, in our view this is a positive statement from Hunting, reporting a strong performance in Q2 and reassuring on full year guidance.

While there is more to do in the second half to meet full year guidance, it has already been well flagged that 2026 was going to be H2 weighted.

The uncertainty in the Middle East may have delayed contract awards short term, but in our view, it is unlikely to impact the medium-term growth expected in the region or the broader energy market, and we look for more orders to come through in H2 2026.”

His estimates for the current year to end-December are for sales of $1,045.5m ($1,018.8m), with EBITDA of $145.9m ($135.7m), generating adjusted pre-tax profits of $90.6m ($79.7m), lifting earnings to 39.2c (34.2c) and paying out a dividend of 14.7c (13.0c) per share.

For the next year to end-2027, his estimates are for $1,101.0m sales, EBITDA of $159.5m, PBT $101.0m, EPS 44.8c and DPS of 16.6c per share.

Over at Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets, analyst Alex Brooks has a Buy note with a 600p Target Price.

He noted the strong performance in the group’s Subsea and its Perforating Systems units, as well as commenting that there were high levels of enquiries across multiple end-markets, including AI-driven power demand, oil & gas security of supply, and OPEC rebalancing.

“We note we continue to see a good year of progress in 2027E, driven by continued good demand in Subsea and OOR, and the improving outlook in AMG and OCTG.”

Berenberg Bank rate the shares as a Buy, with a 580p Target Price.

My View

I know that I have said this many times before; however, I have been following this group for decades and met its Board members on several occasions.

I like the business and its Management; in my view, its shares at just 488p are a bargain.

(Profile 15.03.21 @ 275p set a Target Price of 350p*)

(Profile 12.04.23 @ 240p set a Target Price of 300p*)

(Profile 15.01.26 @ 401p set a Target Price of 460p*)

Hunting - subsea