Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Reaches New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $149.00 to $142.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Weatherford International traded as low as $79.90 and last traded at $80.36, with a volume of 95074 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $81.16.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on WFRD. Barclays decreased their price target on Weatherford International from $165.00 to $154.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Weatherford International from $155.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on Weatherford International from $161.00 to $158.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Weatherford International has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $145.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Weatherford International

In other Weatherford International news, EVP David John Reed sold 6,805 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.96, for a total transaction of $639,397.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the second quarter worth approximately $1,653,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 669.1% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,221 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,872,000 after buying an additional 14,112 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 79.7% during the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 11,985 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 5,315 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Weatherford International by 107.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 23,527 shares of the company's stock worth $2,715,000 after acquiring an additional 12,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Weatherford International by 2.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,409,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $739,730,000 after purchasing an additional 182,120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Weatherford International Trading Down 4.7 %

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $94.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.58.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.42 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 49.11%. The business's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Weatherford International plc will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.04%.

Weatherford International Company Profile

Weatherford International plc, an energy services company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil, geothermal, and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Drilling and Evaluation; Well Construction and Completions; and Production and Intervention.