Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

WFRD has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on Weatherford International from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler raised Weatherford International from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, July 28th. Melius started coverage on Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Weatherford International from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up previously from $69.00) on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.70.

Weatherford International Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of WFRD opened at $63.68 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.58. Weatherford International has a twelve month low of $36.74 and a twelve month high of $106.62. The stock has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a PE ratio of 9.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 34.87% and a net margin of 9.35%.The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Weatherford International will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 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 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.48%.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 1,002.0% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the first quarter valued at approximately $445,000. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the first quarter valued at approximately $522,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 55.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the first quarter valued at approximately $419,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

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.