Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $93.79 and last traded at $91.44, with a volume of 1192429 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $93.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WFRD. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Weatherford International from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on Weatherford International from $77.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Barclays lowered their price target on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Weatherford International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Weatherford International Trading Up 0.0%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 0.79.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This is a boost from Weatherford International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. Weatherford International’s payout ratio is presently 18.12%.

Insider Activity at Weatherford International

In related news, EVP Kristin Ruzicka sold 2,129 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total value of $164,465.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,739.25. This trade represents a 11.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Weatherford International by 110.8% in the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 708,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,629,000 after purchasing an additional 372,192 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the third quarter worth $20,725,000. Atlantic Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Investment Management Inc. now owns 647,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,564,000 after buying an additional 74,465 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,014,000. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp acquired a new stake in Weatherford International during the 2nd quarter worth $2,019,000. 97.23% of the stock is currently 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.