Alliancebernstein L.P. Lowers Position in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its position in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 134,749 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,459 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.19% of Valaris worth $5,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on VAL shares. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Valaris from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Valaris from $46.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valaris currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.50.

Valaris Price Performance

Valaris stock opened at $31.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.79. Valaris Limited has a 12-month low of $27.15 and a 12-month high of $84.20.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.68. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. The business had revenue of $584.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.01 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Valaris 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.