Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) Now Covered by Melius

Key Points

• Melius has initiated coverage of Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) with a "buy" rating and a price target of $108.00, indicating a potential upside of 91.76% from the current price.
• Weatherford International reported $1.87 EPS for the last quarter, which surpassed analyst expectations, despite a 14.3% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• The company holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with eight giving it a "Buy" rating and an average target price of $98.78.

Melius assumed coverage on shares of Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on WFRD. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up from $69.00) on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on Weatherford International from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Weatherford International from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Weatherford International from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Weatherford International presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.70.

Weatherford International Stock Up 1.0%

WFRD stock traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.45. The company had a trading volume of 270,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,303,593. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.47. Weatherford International has a fifty-two week low of $36.74 and a fifty-two week high of $111.23.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.90. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Weatherford International had a return on equity of 34.87% and a net margin of 9.35%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that Weatherford International will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Weatherford International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Weatherford International's payout ratio is 15.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Weatherford International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WFRD. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Weatherford International in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 83.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 69.8% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 2,392.0% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 623 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Weatherford International by 546.7% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 595 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.23% of the company's stock.

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.