Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Precision Drilling Corporation (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $89.47, but opened at $87.01. Precision Drilling shares last traded at $87.8210, with a volume of 4,097 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Precision Drilling from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Precision Drilling from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Precision Drilling from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Precision Drilling currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.33.

Precision Drilling Trading Up 0.8%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $85.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.87. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.97 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.81). Precision Drilling had a positive return on equity of 2.11% and a negative net margin of 1.68%.The company had revenue of $319.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.70 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Precision Drilling Corporation will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Precision Drilling

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in Precision Drilling by 70.8% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,802 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,438,000 after purchasing an additional 13,188 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Precision Drilling by 21.2% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 12,341 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $929,000 after buying an additional 2,155 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Precision Drilling during the second quarter valued at approximately $557,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Precision Drilling during the second quarter valued at approximately $190,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Precision Drilling by 129.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 114,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,287,000 after acquiring an additional 64,735 shares during the last quarter. 48.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Precision Drilling Company Profile

Precision Drilling Corporation is a Canadian oilfield services company that provides contract drilling and well-servicing solutions to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies. The company is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PDS.

Its primary business is contract drilling, including the provision of land-based drilling rigs, crews and related equipment used to construct oil and gas wells.