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

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $151.88.

WFRD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $130.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on Weatherford International from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Weatherford International from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th.

Weatherford International Stock Down 0.1 %

Weatherford International stock opened at $116.09 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Weatherford International has a 1-year low of $60.00 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The company has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.66.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 52.88% and a net margin of 8.61%. Weatherford International’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Weatherford International news, Director Charles M. Sledge sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.47, for a total value of $1,234,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,041,049.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 5,525.3% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 359,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,501,000 after purchasing an additional 353,177 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Weatherford International by 119.7% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 881 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in Weatherford International by 19.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,722,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,240,000 after buying an additional 439,700 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Weatherford International by 10.2% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 40,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,624,000 after buying an additional 3,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.