Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Shares Cross Above 50-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) shares crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $84.61 and traded as high as $86.96. Weatherford International shares last traded at $85.50, with a volume of 612,692 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WFRD. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Weatherford International from $124.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Weatherford International from $106.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on Weatherford International from $148.00 to $139.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Weatherford International from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.57.

Weatherford International Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $84.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.33. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.64% and a return on equity of 22.39%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be paid a $0.2750 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.61%.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Weatherford International during the third quarter valued at $51,000. USS Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Weatherford International in the third quarter valued at about $21,697,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in Weatherford International by 28.1% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 815,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,275,000 after purchasing an additional 178,982 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International by 32.3% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 98,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,774,000 after purchasing an additional 24,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International by 40.1% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 789 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company’s stock.

Weatherford International Company Profile

Weatherford International plc is an energy services company that provides equipment, technology and services to oil and natural gas operators. Its offerings support multiple stages of the well lifecycle, including drilling and construction, formation evaluation, completion, production and well intervention. The company’s products and services include artificial-lift systems, drilling and well-construction technologies, completion tools, production optimization, and digital solutions for monitoring and managing operations.