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

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) has been given an average rating of “Buy” by the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $147.29.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $521,565.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $932,764.80. This represents a 35.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David John Reed sold 6,805 shares of Weatherford International 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. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WFRD. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 39.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $571,000. Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 131.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 13,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 7,823 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Weatherford International by 59.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,663,000 after buying an additional 11,680 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the third quarter worth $2,239,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Price Performance

NASDAQ:WFRD opened at $84.38 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $86.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.60. Weatherford International has a one year low of $77.00 and a one year high of $135.00.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.41. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 46.25% and a net margin of 9.65%. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is presently 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.