Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD)

Key Points

• Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Weatherford International PLC by 107.4% during the first quarter, accumulating a total of 28,514 shares worth approximately $1.5 million.
• Several brokerages have revised their price targets for Weatherford International, with Piper Sandler raising it to $73.00 while Barclays set theirs at $73.00 after a decrease from $77.00.
• The company reported a net margin of 9.35% and revenue of $1.20 billion for the last quarter, although this represents a year-over-year decline of 14.3%.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 107.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,514 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,764 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Weatherford International were worth $1,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Monaco Asset Management SAM purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the first quarter worth $1,017,000. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 24.6% in the first quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 18,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $965,000 after purchasing an additional 3,561 shares during the period. De Lisle Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 12.5% in the first quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 45,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the first quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 1,465.4% in the first quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 352,740 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,889,000 after purchasing an additional 330,206 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on WFRD shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Weatherford International from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler upgraded Weatherford International from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $62.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up from $69.00) on shares of Weatherford International in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Weatherford International currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.63.

Weatherford International Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ WFRD traded up $0.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $54.82. 183,273 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,360,140. The stock has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.69. Weatherford International PLC has a 1 year low of $36.74 and a 1 year high of $111.23.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 company 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%. Weatherford International's revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 6th. Weatherford International's 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.