Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.21 Million Position in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 17,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,207,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Valaris by 120.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 394 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Valaris during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Valaris by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 693 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in Valaris during the 3rd quarter worth $70,000. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Valaris during the 3rd quarter worth $107,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on Valaris from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. TheStreet raised Valaris from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com raised Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Valaris from $107.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Valaris presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

Valaris Stock Performance

VAL opened at $68.16 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $69.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.13. Valaris Limited has a 1 year low of $54.13 and a 1 year high of $78.92. The company has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $483.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $484.00 million. Valaris had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 48.50%. Equities analysts expect that Valaris Limited will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.