Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Hits New 52-Week High Following Strong Earnings

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $96.16 and last traded at $95.99, with a volume of 1830980 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $92.39.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The business’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is an increase from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is 16.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WFRD shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays decreased their target price 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. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $77.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Friday, October 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. 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.com, Weatherford International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Weatherford International news, EVP Kristin Ruzicka sold 2,129 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total transaction of $164,465.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,739.25. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in Weatherford International by 20.3% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 326,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,369,000 after purchasing an additional 55,183 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 110.8% during the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 708,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,629,000 after buying an additional 372,192 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter worth $1,014,000. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in shares of Weatherford International by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 303,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,792,000 after buying an additional 17,330 shares during the period. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new position in Weatherford International in the third quarter valued at $20,725,000. 97.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.03 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.29.

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.