Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.50.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VAL. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Valaris in a report on Monday, August 5th. Pickering Energy Partners downgraded shares of Valaris from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Susquehanna initiated coverage on shares of Valaris in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Valaris from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Valaris from $95.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th.

Insider Transactions at Valaris

In other news, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of Valaris stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total value of $1,705,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 108,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,160,326.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Valaris news, SVP Davor Vukadin sold 15,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.64, for a total transaction of $872,425.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,237.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total transaction of $1,705,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 108,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,160,326.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Valaris

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VAL. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Valaris during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $7,355,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Valaris during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,282,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Valaris by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 870,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,662,000 after acquiring an additional 135,753 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Valaris by 699.3% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 14,769 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Valaris during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $8,743,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

Valaris Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of VAL opened at $56.10 on Monday. Valaris has a 1-year low of $53.06 and a 1-year high of $84.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $62.84 and a 200 day moving average of $69.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $1.07. Valaris had a net margin of 49.33% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $610.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $545.00 million. On average, research analysts expect that Valaris will post 4.37 EPS for the current 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.