Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on PDS. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Precision Drilling from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 26th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $81.00 target price (up from $79.00) on shares of Precision Drilling in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Precision Drilling in a report on Friday, October 31st. Atb Cap Markets upgraded Precision Drilling to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Precision Drilling from $110.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.00.

Precision Drilling Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PDS opened at $73.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $63.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $955.80 million, a PE ratio of 27.37 and a beta of 0.97. Precision Drilling has a 52 week low of $36.20 and a 52 week high of $74.31.

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The oil and gas company reported ($0.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($1.57). The company had revenue of $331.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $471.38 million. Precision Drilling had a return on equity of 3.44% and a net margin of 3.17%. Analysts predict that Precision Drilling will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Precision Drilling

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Precision Drilling by 52.3% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,188 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Precision Drilling by 6.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,503 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Precision Drilling by 8.2% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 6,766 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Precision Drilling by 4.7% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,930 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Precision Drilling by 52.4% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 48.86% of the company’s stock.

Precision Drilling Company Profile

Precision Drilling Corporation (NYSE: PDS) is a Calgary, Alberta–based oilfield services company that has provided drilling solutions since its founding in 1951. With more than seven decades of industry experience, the company delivers contract drilling services, directional and horizontal drilling, well servicing, and a suite of specialized equipment designed to meet the evolving needs of exploration and production companies worldwide.

The company’s core business activities include operating a fleet of onshore drilling rigs, offering managed pressure drilling, measurement-while-drilling (MWD) and logging-while-drilling (LWD) services, and providing completion and workover rigs.