Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.25

Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors 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 yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st.

Weatherford International Stock Up 0.2 %

WFRD traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $65.36. 2,173,057 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,264,610. The company has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.61. Weatherford International has a one year low of $60.45 and a one year high of $135.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $72.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.04.

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.30). Weatherford International had a return on equity of 46.25% and a net margin of 9.65%. As a group, analysts expect that Weatherford International will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WFRD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Weatherford International in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Weatherford International from $149.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Weatherford International in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Bank of America cut their price objective on Weatherford International from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Weatherford International from $147.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Weatherford International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David John Reed sold 4,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.66, for a total value of $346,006.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,179.94. This trade represents a 30.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott C. Weatherholt sold 44,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total transaction of $2,944,895.85. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Weatherford International Company Profile

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.