Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Weatherford International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Weatherford International from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.56.

Weatherford International Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of WFRD opened at $92.10 on Wednesday. Weatherford International has a 12 month low of $54.69 and a 12 month high of $113.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a PE ratio of 18.17, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $88.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.04.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 21.50%. The business’s revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Weatherford International will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.70%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jacqueline C. Mutschler sold 4,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.50, for a total transaction of $370,507.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 29,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,632,916.50. The trade was a 12.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Benjamin Duster sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.09, for a total transaction of $516,540.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $963,088.83. This trade represents a 34.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,094 shares of company stock worth $2,244,487. 2.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFRD. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 223.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 122,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,568,000 after purchasing an additional 84,684 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 129.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 143,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,695,000 after purchasing an additional 81,046 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 1st quarter worth approximately $258,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Weatherford International by 26.8% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Weatherford International by 83.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.