Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Valaris (NYSE:VAL) Stock Price

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) had its price objective upped by Citigroup from $44.00 to $47.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on VAL. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Valaris from $47.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Valaris from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Valaris to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Valaris from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.67.

Valaris Stock Performance

Shares of VAL stock opened at $45.63 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $37.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.47. Valaris has a 52 week low of $27.15 and a 52 week high of $84.20. The company has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.71 and a beta of 1.13.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($1.63). The firm had revenue of $620.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $582.87 million. Valaris had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 12.61%. Valaris’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Valaris will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Valaris

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 51.7% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 684 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Valaris during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in Valaris by 518.3% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new position in shares of Valaris in the first quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valaris by 1,027.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares during the period. 96.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.