Parker Drilling's Stock Sinks After Public Stock Offering

Shares of Parker Drilling Co. plunged 13% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the provider of drilling services to the energy industry launched a public offering of 12 million shares of common stock. That would boost the number of shares outstanding, currently at about 125.2 million, by nearly 10%. The company said it also granted the underwriters of the offering options to buy up to an additional 1.8 million shares, and that it launched a public offering of $50 million worth of convertible preferred stock. Parker Drilling plans to use the proceeds from the offerings for general corporate purposes. On Tuesday, the company said it ended 2016 with $210 million in total liquidity. The stock has soared 90% over the past 12 months, while the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF has climbed 24% and the S&P 500 has rallied 22%.