Wall Street Zen Upgrades Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) to Strong-Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Weatherford International from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients on Tuesday.
• The stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $98.33, based on 1 Strong Buy, 7 Buy and 3 Hold analyst ratings.
• Weatherford recently reported Q4 EPS of $1.91 (vs. $1.42 expected) and revenue of $1.29B, has a market cap of $6.57B and a PE of 15.44, and its CEO sold 100,000 shares at $105.50.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Weatherford International in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Weatherford International from $111.00 to $109.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Weatherford International from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research raised Weatherford International from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Weatherford International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.33.

Weatherford International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WFRD opened at $91.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Weatherford International has a 1-year low of $36.74 and a 1-year high of $110.57. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $94.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.27.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Weatherford International had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 28.07%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Weatherford International will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Weatherford International

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WFRD. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Weatherford International by 127.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 318 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Weatherford International during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Weatherford International during the third quarter worth $26,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in Weatherford International in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Weatherford International in the third quarter valued at $35,000. 97.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Weatherford International Company 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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