GeoSphere Capital Management LLC Acquires 17,500 Shares of Weatherford International PLC $WFRD

Key Points

• GeoSphere Capital Management increased its stake in Weatherford International by 70% in the fourth quarter, adding 17,500 shares to bring its total to 42,500 shares worth about $3.33 million.
• Weatherford reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.49 versus the $1.02 consensus and revenue of $1.15 billion versus $1.14 billion expected, though revenue was still down 3.4% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share and has drawn mixed analyst views, with recent rating cuts offset by price-target increases from Barclays and Citigroup; the consensus rating remains Moderate Buy.

GeoSphere Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 70.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 42,500 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 17,500 shares during the quarter. Weatherford International accounts for about 1.1% of GeoSphere Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. GeoSphere Capital Management LLC owned 0.06% of Weatherford International worth $3,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 704 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 3.7% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,662 shares of the company's stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 0.9% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 21,431 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,467,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $108.79 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.03, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $100.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.09. Weatherford International PLC has a 52-week low of $42.75 and a 52-week high of $113.15.

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

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Weatherford International's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WFRD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Weatherford International from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings cut Weatherford International from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Weatherford International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Weatherford International from $115.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.33.

Weatherford International Profile

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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