Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $94.70.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WFRD. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays increased their price target on Weatherford International from $81.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Weatherford International from $77.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In related news, EVP Kristin Ruzicka sold 2,129 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total value of $164,465.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,739.25. This trade represents a 11.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFRD. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 36.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 137,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,355,000 after buying an additional 36,630 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in Weatherford International during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,356,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 18,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $975,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Weatherford International by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 120,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,442,000 after acquiring an additional 17,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Weatherford International by 19.9% during the first quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 11,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916 shares during the period. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of WFRD stock opened at $78.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.97. Weatherford International has a 12 month low of $36.74 and a 12 month high of $82.26.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 28.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.06 EPS. Analysts predict that Weatherford International will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 6th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 6th. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 18.12%.

About Weatherford International

Weatherford International (NASDAQ: WFRD) is a global oilfield services company specializing in the development, design and manufacturing of equipment and technologies for oil and natural gas drilling, evaluation, completion and production. The company’s core offerings include well construction services such as directional drilling and wellbore positioning, well completion solutions that encompass sand control and zonal isolation technologies, and production enhancement services involving artificial lift systems and well intervention tools.

In addition to its comprehensive service lines, Weatherford provides a range of drilling optimization and reservoir evaluation products.