Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) Trading Down 4.3% – Time to Sell?

Precision Drilling Corporation (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) shares dropped 4.3% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $84.63 and last traded at $83.9170. Approximately 9,272 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 117,950 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Precision Drilling Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.95 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average is $85.05 and its 200 day moving average is $88.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Precision Drilling

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its stake in Precision Drilling by 70.8% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,802 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,438,000 after acquiring an additional 13,188 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Precision Drilling by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 12,341 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Precision Drilling in the 2nd quarter valued at about $557,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Precision Drilling in the 2nd quarter valued at about $190,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Precision Drilling by 129.5% during 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.

About Precision Drilling

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.