Valaris (NYSE:VAL) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valaris (NYSE:VAL) to a sell rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI downgraded Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Valaris from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Valaris from $61.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Valaris in a research note on Friday, December 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down previously from $59.00) on shares of Valaris in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Valaris currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.83.

Valaris Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of NYSE VAL opened at $44.60 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.85. Valaris has a 52 week low of $39.90 and a 52 week high of $84.20. The company has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $584.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.01 million. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.67%. Research analysts anticipate that Valaris will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valaris

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Valaris by 55.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,300,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,771,000 after buying an additional 821,304 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Valaris in the fourth quarter worth about $31,949,000. Condire Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Valaris by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Condire Management LP now owns 2,618,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,850,000 after buying an additional 665,718 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valaris during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,747,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Valaris by 942.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 381,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,502,000 after acquiring an additional 344,857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

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.