Wall Street Zen Upgrades Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) to “Buy”

Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on NBR. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Nabors Industries in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $36.00) on shares of Nabors Industries in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Nabors Industries in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $66.00 price objective on Nabors Industries and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Nabors Industries in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $49.57.

Nabors Industries Stock Down 1.5%

Nabors Industries stock opened at $53.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $783.24 million, a P/E ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.09. Nabors Industries has a fifty-two week low of $23.27 and a fifty-two week high of $69.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.57.

Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The oil and gas company reported ($3.67) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.37) by ($1.30). The firm had revenue of $825.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $824.61 million. Nabors Industries had a negative return on equity of 30.85% and a net margin of 7.08%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($6.86) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Nabors Industries will post -6.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nabors Industries

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NBR. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Nabors Industries by 23.0% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 1,545 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC lifted its holdings in Nabors Industries by 2.5% in the second quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 17,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of Nabors Industries by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,941 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nabors Industries by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,444 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Nabors Industries by 11.5% in the first quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 5,540 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. 81.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nabors Industries Company Profile

Nabors Industries Ltd. provides drilling and drilling-related services for land-based and offshore oil and natural gas wells in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: U.S. Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. It provides tubular running services, including casing and tubing running, and torque monitoring; managed pressure drilling services; and drilling-bit steering systems and rig instrumentation software.