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

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $18.5714.

Several brokerages have weighed in on NOV. TD Cowen lowered shares of NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on NOV from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays raised NOV from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on NOV from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a research report on Friday, March 27th.

NOV Price Performance

NOV stock opened at $18.76 on Friday. NOV has a one year low of $10.84 and a one year high of $20.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $19.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.52. The company has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.36 and a beta of 0.94.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. 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). The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. NOV had a return on equity of 3.57% and a net margin of 1.66%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that NOV will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from NOV’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. NOV’s payout ratio is presently 94.74%.

Insider Transactions at NOV

In other NOV news, VP Craig L. Weinstock sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.08, for a total value of $1,405,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 256,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,146,885.52. This represents a 21.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph W. Rovig sold 151,086 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.17, for a total transaction of $3,047,404.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 269,694 shares in the company, valued at $5,439,727.98. This represents a 35.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NOV

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of NOV by 15.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 49,721 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 6,711 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of NOV by 35.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 161,927 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $2,465,000 after acquiring an additional 42,462 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in NOV by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,062,292 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $16,168,000 after purchasing an additional 157,385 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in NOV during the 1st quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in NOV in the 2nd quarter valued at about $190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

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.