Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Hits New 52-Week Low - Here's What Happened

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $75.23 and last traded at $75.80, with a volume of 29965 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $76.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WFRD shares. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Weatherford International from $154.00 to $147.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $140.50.

Weatherford International Trading Down 3.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.04. The firm has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.36, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.02.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.41. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 46.25% and a net margin of 9.65%. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Weatherford International plc will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. Weatherford International's payout ratio is currently 14.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 6,531 shares of Weatherford International stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.86, for a total value of $521,565.66. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at $932,764.80. The trade was a 35.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WFRD. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 94.2% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 175,369 shares of the company's stock worth $14,892,000 after acquiring an additional 85,080 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 63.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 461,790 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,007,000 after purchasing an additional 179,064 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Weatherford International by 39.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,173 shares of the company's stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Weatherford International in the third quarter worth approximately $571,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 131.7% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 13,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,169,000 after buying an additional 7,823 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

About Weatherford International

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.