Franklin Resources Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Valaris Limited $VAL

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,109 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,952 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Valaris were worth $1,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dalal Street LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valaris in the first quarter valued at approximately $56,046,000. Tensile Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Valaris in the 1st quarter valued at $25,912,000. Moerus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Valaris in the 1st quarter valued at $18,314,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Valaris by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,761,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,412,000 after buying an additional 460,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valaris in the 1st quarter worth $6,907,000. 96.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valaris Stock Performance

NYSE VAL opened at $59.92 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.05. The company has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68 and a beta of 1.16. Valaris Limited has a 1-year low of $27.15 and a 1-year high of $61.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $1.65. The company had revenue of $595.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.41 million. Valaris had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 16.51%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VAL shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Valaris from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Valaris from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. SEB Equity Research set a $45.50 price target on Valaris in a report on Monday, September 1st. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Valaris from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Valaris from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.06.

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.