Benchmark Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at Benchmark in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $155.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark’s target price indicates a potential upside of 25.35% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on Weatherford International from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Weatherford International from $134.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. TheStreet upgraded Weatherford International from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Weatherford International from $138.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Weatherford International in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.11.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of WFRD stock opened at $123.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Weatherford International has a 52-week low of $55.81 and a 52-week high of $127.45.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 58.17% and a net margin of 8.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. Weatherford International’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 40,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.91, for a total value of $4,001,404.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at $12,365,629.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 40,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.91, for a total value of $4,001,404.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at $12,365,629.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Girish Saligram sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.57, for a total value of $6,214,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 146,895 shares in the company, valued at $15,213,915.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,455 shares of company stock worth $13,628,764 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 0.4% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 74,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,653,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 2.5% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 20,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,401,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 14.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 77,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,916,000 after buying an additional 9,799 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 6.3% in the first quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 4,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 2.9% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 17,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,054,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Weatherford International Company Profile

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.