Piper Sandler Issues Positive Forecast for Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Stock Price

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) had its price target upped by Piper Sandler from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Weatherford International from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on Weatherford International from $94.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Weatherford International from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.00.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Weatherford International stock opened at $99.79 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $97.50 and its 200 day moving average is $84.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.83. Weatherford International has a one year low of $40.12 and a one year high of $110.57.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.07% and a net margin of 8.76%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a positive change from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.55%.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In other news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total transaction of $10,550,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WFRD. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 127.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 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.