Valaris (NYSE:VAL) Upgraded to Sell at StockNews.com

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on VAL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Valaris in a report on Friday, December 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Valaris from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Valaris from $61.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down previously from $59.00) on shares of Valaris in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.83.

Valaris Price Performance

NYSE VAL traded up $1.78 on Thursday, reaching $44.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,454,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,575,448. Valaris has a 52 week low of $39.90 and a 52 week high of $84.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $45.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.85.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $584.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.01 million. Valaris had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 47.52%. Sell-side analysts expect that Valaris will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Valaris by 55.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,300,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,771,000 after acquiring an additional 821,304 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Valaris in the fourth quarter worth about $31,949,000. Condire Management LP raised its holdings in Valaris by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Condire Management LP now owns 2,618,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,850,000 after purchasing an additional 665,718 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Valaris during the 4th quarter valued at about $21,747,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valaris by 942.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 381,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,502,000 after purchasing an additional 344,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

About Valaris

Valaris Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services Gulf of Mexico, South America, North Sea, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through four segments: Floaters, Jackups, ARO, and Other. It owns an offshore drilling rig fleet, which include drillships, dynamically positioned semisubmersible rigs, moored semisubmersible rig, and jackup rigs.