Valaris (NYSE:VAL) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $48.79, but opened at $52.52. Valaris shares last traded at $51.83, with a volume of 445,366 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VAL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Valaris from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Pickering Energy Partners downgraded shares of Valaris from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Benchmark downgraded shares of Valaris from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Valaris from $95.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Valaris from $91.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.33.

Valaris Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $55.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The company has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.15.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $1.07. Valaris had a net margin of 49.33% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $610.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $545.00 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Valaris Limited will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Valaris

In related news, SVP Davor Vukadin sold 15,403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.64, for a total transaction of $872,425.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $755,237.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Valaris news, SVP Davor Vukadin sold 15,403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.64, for a total value of $872,425.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,334 shares in the company, valued at $755,237.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total transaction of $1,705,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 108,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,160,326.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 71,403 shares of company stock valued at $4,028,246 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valaris

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VAL. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Valaris during the second quarter worth about $28,884,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Valaris by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,188,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,573,000 after buying an additional 225,283 shares during the period. Condire Management LP increased its holdings in Valaris by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Condire Management LP now owns 1,452,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,285,000 after buying an additional 186,076 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Valaris by 338.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 236,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,426,000 after buying an additional 182,467 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Valaris in the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,306,000. 96.74% of the stock is owned by 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.