HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 1,252 Shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,742 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,252 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valaris were worth $519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lingotto Investment Management LLP grew its stake in shares of Valaris by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 3,637,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,910,000 after buying an additional 87,420 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Valaris by 4.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,446,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,365,000 after acquiring an additional 112,216 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Valaris by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,519,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,736,000 after acquiring an additional 66,229 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 797,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,436,000 after purchasing an additional 29,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 756,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,451,000 after purchasing an additional 85,250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VAL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on Valaris from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Valaris from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com raised Valaris to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Valaris in a report on Friday, December 6th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.33.

Valaris Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VAL opened at $39.44 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.67 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.25 and its 200-day moving average is $46.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Valaris Limited has a 1-year low of $31.15 and a 1-year high of $84.20.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.68. Valaris had a return on equity of 17.40% and a net margin of 15.81%. The firm had revenue of $584.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.01 million. Equities research analysts predict that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

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.