Weatherford International plc (WFRD) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 on March 19th

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share on Wednesday, March 19th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st.

Weatherford International Stock Up 2.4 %

WFRD stock opened at $72.22 on Wednesday. Weatherford International has a twelve month low of $60.45 and a twelve month high of $135.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $70.12 and a 200 day moving average of $83.68.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 40.65%. On average, research analysts forecast that Weatherford International will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Weatherford International

In other news, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total value of $2,944,895.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,019 shares in the company, valued at $8,272,507.23. This trade represents a 26.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Desmond J. Mills sold 19,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.51, for a total value of $1,311,381.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,361.49. This trade represents a 52.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 92,692 shares of company stock worth $6,207,725 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Weatherford International from $100.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Weatherford International from $107.00 to $97.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark reduced their target price on Weatherford International from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Weatherford International from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Weatherford International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.63.

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.