Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Grows Stake in Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Weatherford International PLC by 122.8%, now owning 8,117 shares valued at $435,000.
• Research analysts have given Weatherford International a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $97.63, indicating strong confidence in the company's prospects.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, representing a 1.8% yield, set to be paid on September 4th.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 122.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,117 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,474 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cynosure Group LLC grew its stake in Weatherford International by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 18,633 shares of the company's stock worth $998,000 after purchasing an additional 5,150 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 96.5% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 133,518 shares of the company's stock worth $7,150,000 after acquiring an additional 65,567 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 26,994 shares of the company's stock worth $1,446,000 after acquiring an additional 2,795 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 808,128 shares of the company's stock worth $43,275,000 after acquiring an additional 51,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Weatherford International by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,050,495 shares of the company's stock worth $431,104,000 after acquiring an additional 347,584 shares in the last quarter. 97.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WFRD shares. Melius started coverage on Weatherford International in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler raised Weatherford International from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up from $69.00) on shares of Weatherford International in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.70.

Weatherford International Stock Performance

Shares of WFRD stock traded up $3.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $60.83. 790,757 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 822,323. The company has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.77. The company's 50 day moving average is $54.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.65. Weatherford International PLC has a 1 year low of $36.74 and a 1 year high of $111.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.90. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 34.87% and a net margin of 9.35%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 6th. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio is 15.48%.

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.