ProPetro (NYSE:PUMP) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Freedom Broker

Freedom Broker upgraded shares of ProPetro (NYSE:PUMP) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday,Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of ProPetro from $12.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays decreased their target price on ProPetro from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings downgraded ProPetro from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on ProPetro from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on ProPetro from $16.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.25.

ProPetro Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE PUMP opened at $7.72 on Thursday. ProPetro has a 12-month low of $7.01 and a 12-month high of $18.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 3.49 and a quick ratio of 4.00.

ProPetro (NYSE:PUMP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.10. ProPetro had a net margin of 0.16% and a return on equity of 0.21%. The business had revenue of $355.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $320.44 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that ProPetro will post -0.10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Adam Muñoz sold 70,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.17, for a total transaction of $789,674.32. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 148,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,660,878.47. This trade represents a 32.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director G Lawrence sold 35,831 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.16, for a total transaction of $399,873.96. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 28,181 shares in the company, valued at $314,499.96. The trade was a 55.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ProPetro

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PUMP. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ProPetro during the 2nd quarter worth $130,574,000. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of ProPetro in the 1st quarter worth about $42,748,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of ProPetro by 182.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,684,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,573,000 after buying an additional 2,380,655 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in ProPetro by 882.3% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,290,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,844,000 after buying an additional 2,057,195 shares during the period. Finally, Fund 1 Investments LLC grew its position in ProPetro by 2,653.6% during the second quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 1,793,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after buying an additional 1,728,736 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.70% of the company’s stock.

ProPetro Company Profile

ProPetro Holding Corp. is an oilfield services company that provides completion and production services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies. Its primary offerings include hydraulic fracturing, well stimulation and wireline services used to prepare newly drilled wells for production and support ongoing well operations.

The company operates primarily in the Permian Basin, serving customers in the West Texas and southeastern New Mexico region. ProPetro’s services are focused on unconventional shale and tight-rock wells, where specialized pumping, pressure-control and downhole technologies are used to improve hydrocarbon recovery.

ProPetro was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.