Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Position in Precision Drilling Co. (NYSE:PDS)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Precision Drilling Co. (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,857 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 3,743 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.49% of Precision Drilling worth $4,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Precision Drilling by 6.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,867 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Precision Drilling by 3,575.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 153,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $9,395,000 after purchasing an additional 149,616 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Lake Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Precision Drilling by 107.9% during the 4th quarter. Mountain Lake Investment Management LLC now owns 51,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,174,000 after buying an additional 26,981 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in Precision Drilling by 1,741.8% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,247 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 2,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in Precision Drilling by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 91,601 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,594,000 after buying an additional 7,540 shares during the last quarter. 48.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Precision Drilling Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of Precision Drilling stock opened at $42.48 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $48.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.97. Precision Drilling Co. has a fifty-two week low of $36.20 and a fifty-two week high of $79.07. The firm has a market cap of $575.52 million, a P/E ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.40 by ($0.64). Precision Drilling had a net margin of 5.87% and a return on equity of 6.72%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Precision Drilling Co. will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James cut Precision Drilling from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut Precision Drilling from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, TD Securities lowered shares of Precision Drilling from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

Precision Drilling Company Profile

Precision Drilling Corporation, a drilling company, provides onshore drilling, completion, and production services to exploration and production companies in the oil and natural gas and geothermal industries in North America and the Middle East. The company operates through Contract Drilling Services and Completion and Production Services segments.