K2 Principal Fund L.P. Acquires 13,000 Shares of Precision Drilling Corporation $PDS

Key Points

• K2 Principal Fund L.P. increased its stake in Precision Drilling Corporation by 26.8%, acquiring an additional 13,000 shares, bringing its total ownership to 61,446 shares valued at approximately $2.87 million.
• Precision Drilling recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.77, significantly surpassing analysts' expectations of a loss, while its revenue came in at $299.14 million.
• Analysts are optimistic about Precision Drilling, with Piper Sandler setting a price target of $74.00 and Royal Bank of Canada raising its target to $100.00, indicating a consensus rating of "Buy" for the stock.

K2 Principal Fund L.P. lifted its stake in Precision Drilling Corporation (NYSE:PDS - Free Report) TSE: PD by 26.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,446 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares during the quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. owned approximately 0.45% of Precision Drilling worth $2,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PDS. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Precision Drilling by 1.4% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 739,842 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $34,093,000 after buying an additional 10,216 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Precision Drilling in the first quarter valued at about $22,637,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Precision Drilling by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 396,072 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $24,188,000 after buying an additional 98,836 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Precision Drilling by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 265,254 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $16,198,000 after buying an additional 29,612 shares during the period. Finally, Aegis Financial Corp lifted its stake in Precision Drilling by 58.1% during the first quarter. Aegis Financial Corp now owns 195,505 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $9,089,000 after purchasing an additional 71,867 shares during the period. 48.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Precision Drilling Stock Performance

Shares of PDS traded down $1.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $56.73. 49,873 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 62,763. Precision Drilling Corporation has a 52 week low of $36.20 and a 52 week high of $68.16. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $53.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.05. The firm has a market cap of $749.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS - Get Free Report) TSE: PD last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.79. Precision Drilling had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 6.21%. The company had revenue of $299.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $435.47 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Precision Drilling Corporation will post 7.1 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PDS shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Precision Drilling in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Precision Drilling from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Precision Drilling from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $87.00.

About Precision Drilling

Precision Drilling Corporation, a drilling company, provides onshore drilling, completion, and production services to exploration and production companies in the oil and natural gas and geothermal industries in North America and the Middle East. The company operates through Contract Drilling Services and Completion and Production Services segments.