Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Acquires 72,000 Shares of Precision Drilling Corporation $PDS

Key Points

• Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Precision Drilling by 200% by acquiring an additional 72,000 shares, bringing their total ownership to 108,000 shares valued at approximately $5.03 million.
• Precision Drilling's stock dropped by 2.7%, now trading at $56.73, with a reported earnings per share of $0.77, significantly exceeding analysts' estimates.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" for Precision Drilling, with a target price of $87.00, reflecting a positive outlook for the company's stock performance.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Precision Drilling Corporation (NYSE:PDS - Free Report) TSE: PD by 200.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,000 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 72,000 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.80% of Precision Drilling worth $5,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Precision Drilling by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 265,254 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $16,198,000 after acquiring an additional 29,612 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Precision Drilling by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 17,183 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in Precision Drilling in the fourth quarter worth $1,521,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in 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 worth $24,188,000 after purchasing an additional 98,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Precision Drilling during the fourth quarter valued at $485,000. 48.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PDS has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Precision Drilling from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised shares of Precision Drilling from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Precision Drilling in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. One investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $87.00.

Precision Drilling Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE PDS traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $56.20. The stock had a trading volume of 50,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 111,512. The stock has a market cap of $742.90 million, a PE ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.15. Precision Drilling Corporation has a 1 year low of $36.20 and a 1 year high of $67.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.19.

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

Precision Drilling Profile

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.