Precision Drilling Co. (NYSE:PDS) Short Interest Up 26.0% in March

Precision Drilling Co. (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 337,300 shares, a growth of 26.0% from the February 28th total of 267,700 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 101,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Precision Drilling

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PDS. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Precision Drilling by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,388 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Precision Drilling by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,285 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Precision Drilling by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,159 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Precision Drilling by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 17,183 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Precision Drilling by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 8,477 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 824 shares in the last quarter. 48.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PDS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Securities downgraded Precision Drilling from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Precision Drilling from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th.

Precision Drilling Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Precision Drilling stock traded up $0.34 on Wednesday, hitting $48.12. 226,135 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 76,366. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.43. Precision Drilling has a one year low of $43.00 and a one year high of $79.07. The company has a market capitalization of $651.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) (TSE:PD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by ($0.64). Precision Drilling had a return on equity of 6.72% and a net margin of 5.87%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Precision Drilling will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current year.

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.