Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $54.33.

A number of research firms recently commented on VAL. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Valaris from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Valaris in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Valaris from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Valaris to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

Valaris Price Performance

NYSE VAL opened at $39.68 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.19. Valaris has a 52-week low of $31.15 and a 52-week high of $84.20. The company has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 1.16.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.68. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. The firm had revenue of $584.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.01 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Valaris will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Valaris in the third quarter worth $25,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 518.3% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 395.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 326.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

Valaris Company Profile

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.