Alberta Investment Management Corp Boosts Stock Position in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its Weatherford International stake by 57.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 77,300 shares valued at about $6.05 million.
• Weatherford shares were down 2.2% in Wednesday trading, even as the stock remained well above its 12-month low and posted a market cap of about $7.04 billion.
• The company beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.49 EPS versus the $1.02 estimate, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with a target price of $110.67.

Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its position in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 57.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,300 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 28,100 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned approximately 0.11% of Weatherford International worth $6,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,219 shares of the company's stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 704 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Weatherford International by 3.7% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,662 shares of the company's stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Weatherford International by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the company's stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 127.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 318 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Weatherford International Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $97.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.68. Weatherford International PLC has a 12 month low of $46.20 and a 12 month high of $113.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.82.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 28.31%. Weatherford International's revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Weatherford International PLC will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFRD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Weatherford International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Weatherford International from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Weatherford International from $134.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $110.67.

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.

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