Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $86.95 and last traded at $89.0980, with a volume of 28500 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $80.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFRD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on Weatherford International in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $77.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Friday, October 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.70.

Weatherford International Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.82. The company has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 28.28% and a net margin of 8.15%.Weatherford International’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 6th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 6th. Weatherford International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kristin Ruzicka sold 2,129 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total value of $164,465.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,739.25. This represents a 11.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Weatherford International

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFRD. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the second quarter worth about $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 83.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 69.8% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 2,392.0% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is owned by 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.