FIL Ltd Sells 178,117 Shares of Precision Drilling Co. (NYSE:PDS)

FIL Ltd cut its stake in Precision Drilling Co. (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) by 43.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 233,189 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 178,117 shares during the period. FIL Ltd owned about 1.69% of Precision Drilling worth $14,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Precision Drilling by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 729,626 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $44,673,000 after acquiring an additional 3,342 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Precision Drilling by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 602,954 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $36,832,000 after purchasing an additional 131,843 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased 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 worth $9,395,000 after purchasing an additional 149,616 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Precision Drilling by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 135,908 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,308,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $5,594,000 after buying an additional 7,540 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 48.86% of the company’s stock.

Precision Drilling Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE:PDS opened at $42.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $575.52 million, a PE ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Precision Drilling Co. has a 12-month low of $36.20 and a 12-month high of $79.07. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.97.

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) last posted its 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Precision Drilling Co. will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.