Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.33.

Weatherford International Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of WFRD opened at $86.48 on Monday. Weatherford International has a 12-month low of $36.74 and a 12-month high of $110.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm 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 price is $94.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.63.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.49. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.07% and a net margin of 8.76%.The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Weatherford International will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 712.8% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,646,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,812,000 after buying an additional 1,443,512 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Weatherford International by 1,040.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,244,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,392,000 after buying an additional 1,135,338 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 1,005.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,056,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,148,000 after acquiring an additional 960,832 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,542,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 1,096.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 855,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,971,000 after acquiring an additional 784,237 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Company Profile

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.