Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.6250.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NE shares. SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 target price on Noble in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a research note on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Noble from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th.

Noble Stock Performance

NE stock opened at $46.28 on Monday. Noble has a twelve month low of $17.40 and a twelve month high of $47.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.28 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.24 and its 200-day moving average is $32.91.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $764.41 million for the quarter. Noble had a return on equity of 2.34% and a net margin of 6.60%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Noble will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Noble’s dividend payout ratio is 148.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Noble

In related news, SVP Blake Denton sold 23,255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $1,011,592.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 79,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,447,853.50. The trade was a 22.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Alting sold 4,195 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.60, for a total transaction of $182,902.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 23,510 shares in the company, valued at $1,025,036. This trade represents a 15.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 78,805 shares of company stock worth $3,411,254 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Noble by 156.4% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Noble in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Noble by 77.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Noble by 819.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 2,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Noble during the 1st quarter worth about $142,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Noble Company Profile

Noble (NYSE: NE) is an offshore drilling company that provides drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The firm operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units and delivers contract drilling solutions for exploration and production activities. Its core business centers on executing drilling programs for upstream energy companies across a range of water depths and operating environments.

Products and services include the operation and management of offshore drilling rigs — such as drillships, semisubmersibles and jackups — along with associated technical, engineering and project management services.