Valaris (NYSE:VAL) Shares Up 4.3%

Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) shares shot up 4.3% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $79.91 and last traded at $79.77. 303,849 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 921,946 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on VAL. Barclays cut their price objective on Valaris from $102.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Valaris in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners lowered Valaris from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.20.

Valaris Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.39. The company has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 1.21.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $525.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $503.00 million. Valaris had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 3.81%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Valaris Limited will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valaris

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VAL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Valaris by 7.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,816,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,177,000 after purchasing an additional 120,550 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Valaris by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Valaris by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 34,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT raised its holdings in Valaris by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 16,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Valaris by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. 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.