NOV (NYSE:NOV) Upgraded at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of NOV (NYSE:NOV) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $22.00 price objective on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on NOV. Seaport Res Ptn cut NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Raymond James lifted their target price on NOV from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Atb Cap Markets cut NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down from $25.00) on shares of NOV in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, ATB Capital reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of NOV in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NOV presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.60.

NOV Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:NOV opened at $15.44 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. NOV has a twelve month low of $13.78 and a twelve month high of $21.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $15.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.40.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. NOV had a net margin of 7.16% and a return on equity of 9.88%. Equities research analysts expect that NOV will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.63%.

Institutional Trading of NOV

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in NOV by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 581,446 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $8,489,000 after purchasing an additional 56,665 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of NOV by 61.7% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 3,291,042 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $48,049,000 after buying an additional 1,255,666 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of NOV by 120.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 473,545 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $7,561,000 after acquiring an additional 258,392 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of NOV by 519.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 438,068 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $7,000,000 after acquiring an additional 367,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in NOV in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,709,000. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NOV Company Profile

NOV Inc designs, constructs, manufactures, and sells systems, components, and products for oil and gas drilling and production, and industrial and renewable energy sectors in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Energy Equipment, and Energy Products and Services. The company provides solids control and waste management equipment and services, managed pressure drilling, drilling fluids, premium drillpipe, wired pipe, drilling optimization services, tubular inspection and coating services, instrumentation, downhole tools, and drill bits.