Weatherford International PLC $WFRD Stake Boosted by Penn Capital Management Company LLC

Key Points

• Penn Capital Management boosted its stake in Weatherford by 8.1% in Q3 to 324,992 shares (~0.45% of the company) worth about $22.3 million, making WFRD its 5th-largest holding and ~1.7% of its portfolio.
• Wall Street consensus is a Moderate Buy with a $97.50 average price target; six analysts rate the stock Buy and four rate it Hold, and several firms raised targets (Citigroup to $115, Goldman to $107).
• Weatherford beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $1.91 vs. $1.42 and $1.29B revenue, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.275, and CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares for about $10.55 million.

Penn Capital Management Company LLC boosted its stake in shares of Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 324,992 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 24,240 shares during the quarter. Weatherford International makes up approximately 1.7% of Penn Capital Management Company LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Penn Capital Management Company LLC owned about 0.45% of Weatherford International worth $22,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Weatherford International during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Weatherford International in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Weatherford International in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 83.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Weatherford International by 69.8% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Weatherford International from $93.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Weatherford International from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Weatherford International from $83.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.50.

Weatherford International Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of WFRD opened at $86.40 on Wednesday. Weatherford International PLC has a twelve month low of $36.74 and a twelve month high of $110.57. The stock has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The business's 50-day moving average price is $94.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.58.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.49. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. Weatherford International's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Weatherford International PLC will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This is an increase from Weatherford International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Weatherford International's payout ratio is currently 18.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Girish Saligram sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total value of $10,550,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

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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