Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $103.75.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $97.00 to $73.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Weatherford International Trading Up 5.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $46.68 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Weatherford International has a fifty-two week low of $36.74 and a fifty-two week high of $135.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.70.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 40.65% and a net margin of 9.18%. On average, analysts predict that Weatherford International will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is presently 14.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total value of $2,944,895.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,272,507.23. This represents a 26.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Arunava Mitra sold 10,000 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $675,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,835.04. This represents a 32.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 87,930 shares of company stock valued at $5,861,718 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WFRD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,702,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,760,000 after purchasing an additional 270,775 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 295.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,945,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,894,000 after buying an additional 4,443,823 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Weatherford International by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,402,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,375,000 after buying an additional 298,811 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Weatherford International by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,638,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,657,000 after buying an additional 65,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in Weatherford International by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,777,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,877,000 after acquiring an additional 144,396 shares during the period. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.