NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $18.40.

NOV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on NOV from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of NOV in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of NOV in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of NOV from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th.

NOV Trading Down 2.5%

NOV opened at $18.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.94 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. NOV has a twelve month low of $10.84 and a twelve month high of $19.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.88.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.23). NOV had a return on equity of 3.57% and a net margin of 1.66%.The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that NOV will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. NOV’s payout ratio is currently 78.95%.

Insider Activity at NOV

In other news, Director Christian S. Kendall acquired 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.46 per share, with a total value of $1,012,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 85,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,242,822.54. This represents a 438.90% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NOV in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of NOV in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of NOV by 659.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,978 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in shares of NOV by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,337 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of NOV by 37.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,578 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NOV

National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) is a leading provider of equipment and technology to the oil and gas industry. The company designs, manufactures and services an extensive portfolio of products used in drilling, completion and production operations. Its offerings include drilling rigs and related components, wellbore technologies such as tubulars and completion tools, surface equipment including mud pumps and blowout preventers, and aftermarket parts and services that support ongoing field operations.

NOV’s business is organized to serve upstream energy companies around the world.