Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Hits New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $115.00 to $110.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Weatherford International traded as low as $76.39 and last traded at $76.77, with a volume of 58640 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $77.63.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $154.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total transaction of $521,565.66. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $932,764.80. This trade represents a 35.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,573,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,419,000 after purchasing an additional 959,783 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,267,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,555,000 after buying an additional 68,553 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Weatherford International by 551.1% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,440,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,553 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,324,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,443,000 after purchasing an additional 310,259 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Weatherford International by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 657,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,566,000 after purchasing an additional 38,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Stock Down 1.1 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.58.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 46.25% and a net margin of 9.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Weatherford International plc will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.04%.

About Weatherford International

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.