Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Now Covered by Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Zacks Research cut shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.33.

Weatherford International Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ WFRD opened at $86.48 on Wednesday. Weatherford International has a 1-year low of $36.74 and a 1-year high of $110.57. The company has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $94.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.63. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.07% and a net margin of 8.76%.Weatherford International’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Weatherford International will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Weatherford International news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total value of $10,550,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 704 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Weatherford International by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Weatherford International by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Weatherford International by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

About Weatherford International

Weatherford International (NASDAQ: WFRD) is a global oilfield services company specializing in the development, design and manufacturing of equipment and technologies for oil and natural gas drilling, evaluation, completion and production. The company’s core offerings include well construction services such as directional drilling and wellbore positioning, well completion solutions that encompass sand control and zonal isolation technologies, and production enhancement services involving artificial lift systems and well intervention tools.

In addition to its comprehensive service lines, Weatherford provides a range of drilling optimization and reservoir evaluation products.