Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $147.29.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $154.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $521,565.66. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $932,764.80. The trade was a 35.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David John Reed sold 6,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.96, for a total transaction of $639,397.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,653,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 107.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 23,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,715,000 after acquiring an additional 12,170 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Weatherford International during the 2nd quarter worth about $20,584,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,409,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,730,000 after acquiring an additional 182,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in Weatherford International during the 1st quarter worth about $2,132,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

WFRD stock opened at $82.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.00. Weatherford International has a 52 week low of $77.00 and a 52 week high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 46.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.04%.

About Weatherford International

Weatherford International plc, an energy services company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil, geothermal, and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Drilling and Evaluation; Well Construction and Completions; and Production and Intervention.