Rhumbline Advisers Lowers Stock Holdings in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Rhumbline Advisers decreased its position in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 201,746 shares of the company’s stock after selling 891 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.28% of Valaris worth $7,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VAL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Valaris by 55.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,300,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,771,000 after purchasing an additional 821,304 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Valaris during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,949,000. Condire Management LP grew its stake in shares of Valaris by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Condire Management LP now owns 2,618,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,850,000 after buying an additional 665,718 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Valaris during the fourth quarter valued at about $21,747,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Valaris by 942.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 381,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,502,000 after buying an additional 344,857 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VAL shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Valaris from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Valaris from $47.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Valaris from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.17.

Valaris Stock Performance

Valaris stock opened at $44.61 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.43. Valaris Limited has a fifty-two week low of $27.15 and a fifty-two week high of $84.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68 and a beta of 1.13. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($1.63). Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. The business had revenue of $620.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $582.87 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 earnings per share 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.