Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on NBR. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $66.00 target price on Nabors Industries and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Nabors Industries in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $55.00 target price on shares of Nabors Industries and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $36.00) on shares of Nabors Industries in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Nabors Industries in a report on Monday, December 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $48.14.

Nabors Industries Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:NBR opened at $58.28 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.93. Nabors Industries has a one year low of $23.27 and a one year high of $70.14. The company has a market cap of $848.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.97.

Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The oil and gas company reported ($3.67) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.37) by ($1.30). Nabors Industries had a negative return on equity of 30.85% and a net margin of 7.08%.The firm had revenue of $825.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($6.86) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Nabors Industries will post -6.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nabors Industries

In other Nabors Industries news, major shareholder Varde Partners Inc sold 312,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.04, for a total value of $12,819,993.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,406,052 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,704,374.08. This represents a 18.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nabors Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NBR. Brigade Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Nabors Industries in the first quarter worth about $37,653,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in Nabors Industries by 445.5% during the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 600,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,026,000 after buying an additional 490,000 shares during the last quarter. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. raised its stake in Nabors Industries by 54.2% during the second quarter. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. now owns 650,623 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $18,230,000 after purchasing an additional 228,787 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in shares of Nabors Industries by 232.2% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 185,841 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,595,000 after buying an additional 129,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nabors Industries by 59.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 338,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $9,488,000 after purchasing an additional 126,243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

Nabors Industries Company Profile

Nabors Industries Ltd. provides drilling and drilling-related services for land-based and offshore oil and natural gas wells in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: U.S. Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. It provides tubular running services, including casing and tubing running, and torque monitoring; managed pressure drilling services; and drilling-bit steering systems and rig instrumentation software.