Aristides Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 4,800 Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Aristides Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Valaris during the third quarter worth $25,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Valaris by 395.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 1,177 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Valaris by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 326.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the period. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays cut their price objective on Valaris from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Valaris from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their price target for the company from $87.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.33.

Valaris Stock Down 14.5 %

Valaris stock opened at $29.49 on Monday. Valaris Limited has a fifty-two week low of $27.00 and a fifty-two week high of $84.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $41.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $584.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.01 million. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. Analysts predict that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valaris Company Profile

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.