Precision Drilling Corporation (NYSE:PDS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Precision Drilling Corporation (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $122.33.

PDS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Precision Drilling in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Zacks Research lowered Precision Drilling from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Precision Drilling from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th.

Institutional Trading of Precision Drilling

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Precision Drilling by 2.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 6,171 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its position in Precision Drilling by 2.1% during the first quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 6,171 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its position in Precision Drilling by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,490 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Precision Drilling by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 56,178 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,031,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Precision Drilling by 6.9% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,095 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. 48.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Precision Drilling Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PDS opened at $81.91 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of -39.19 and a beta of 0.81. Precision Drilling has a 12 month low of $53.42 and a 12 month high of $103.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.66.

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $319.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.70 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Precision Drilling will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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.