Valaris (NYSE:VAL) Sets New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $49.00 to $46.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Valaris traded as low as $39.31 and last traded at $39.66, with a volume of 419876 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $40.89.

VAL has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI cut Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Valaris from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Valaris in a report on Friday, December 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Valaris from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valaris currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.00.

Institutional Trading of Valaris

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Valaris during the 3rd quarter worth $930,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Valaris in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,862,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Valaris by 14.8% during the third quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 137,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,670,000 after buying an additional 17,690 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 20.4% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 670,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,412,000 after purchasing an additional 113,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in shares of Valaris by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 31,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,750,000 after purchasing an additional 5,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

Valaris Stock Down 4.4 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.68. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. The firm had revenue of $584.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.01 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.