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

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $114.00.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Weatherford International from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research raised Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WFRD. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 64,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,135,000 after acquiring an additional 3,797 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the second quarter worth about $739,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 9.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 89.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 18,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,785,000 after purchasing an additional 8,925 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Weatherford International by 32.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of WFRD stock opened at $81.10 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $97.47 and a 200-day moving average of $95.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Weatherford International has a 12-month low of $52.33 and a 12-month high of $113.15. The firm has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.21%.

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.