Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $110.6667.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays upped their price target on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 127.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 83.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in Weatherford International during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $91.63 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.31. Weatherford International has a fifty-two week low of $46.20 and a fifty-two week high of $113.15.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.31% and a net margin of 9.49%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is 17.21%.

Weatherford International Company Profile

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.