Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $52.50.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Valaris to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Valaris from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI cut Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their target price for the company from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Valaris from $46.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Valaris Stock Performance

Valaris stock opened at $30.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Valaris has a 12 month low of $27.15 and a 12 month high of $84.20. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.95. The company has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.06.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $584.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.01 million. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. Research analysts expect that Valaris will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valaris

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VAL. Lingotto Investment Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Valaris by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 3,637,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,910,000 after buying an additional 87,420 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Valaris during the fourth quarter worth about $611,000. Hosking Partners LLP raised its position in Valaris by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 341,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,123,000 after acquiring an additional 85,891 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Valaris by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 756,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,451,000 after acquiring an additional 85,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tejara Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in Valaris by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 112,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,973,000 after acquiring an additional 54,173 shares during the last quarter. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.