Valaris (NYSE:VAL) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valaris (NYSE:VAL) to a sell rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Valaris from $47.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Valaris from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Valaris from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valaris presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.17.

Valaris Stock Performance

NYSE VAL opened at $39.08 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Valaris has a 12-month low of $27.15 and a 12-month high of $84.20. The firm has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.60 and a beta of 1.09.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.53) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($1.63). The firm had revenue of $620.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $582.87 million. Valaris had a return on equity of 17.40% and a net margin of 15.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Valaris will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Valaris

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VAL. Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Valaris during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,496,000. Brightlight Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 12.0% during the first quarter. Brightlight Capital Management LP now owns 151,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,948,000 after purchasing an additional 16,244 shares in the last quarter. Broyhill Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Valaris during the first quarter valued at approximately $726,000. Old West Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 88.1% during the first quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 66,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,625,000 after purchasing an additional 31,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Valaris during the first quarter valued at approximately $6,907,000. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.