Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Precision Drilling Corporation (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) shares 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PDS shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Precision Drilling from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Precision Drilling from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Precision Drilling from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. One 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.33.

Precision Drilling Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $84.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.87. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.65 and a beta of 0.81.

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.81). The company had revenue of $319.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.70 million. Precision Drilling had a negative net margin of 1.68% and a positive return on equity of 2.11%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Precision Drilling Corporation will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Precision Drilling by 67.0% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 487,434 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $47,957,000 after buying an additional 195,598 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Precision Drilling by 24.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 373,936 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $36,803,000 after buying an additional 73,084 shares during the period. Aegis Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Precision Drilling by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Aegis Financial Corp now owns 504,059 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $36,221,000 after purchasing an additional 51,700 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Precision Drilling by 37.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 288,013 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,340,000 after acquiring an additional 77,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Precision Drilling by 129.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 114,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,287,000 after purchasing an additional 64,735 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 48.86% of the company’s stock.

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.