Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.50.

A number of research firms have weighed in on VAL. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Valaris from $95.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Valaris from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Susquehanna began coverage on shares of Valaris in a report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Pickering Energy Partners lowered shares of Valaris from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Valaris in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Valaris Stock Performance

VAL opened at $56.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $62.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.40. Valaris has a 1 year low of $53.06 and a 1 year high of $84.20. The stock has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 1.17.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $1.07. Valaris had a net margin of 49.33% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $610.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $545.00 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Valaris will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Valaris

In other news, SVP Davor Vukadin sold 15,403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.64, for a total transaction of $872,425.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $755,237.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Davor Vukadin sold 15,403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.64, for a total transaction of $872,425.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $755,237.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total transaction of $1,705,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 108,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,160,326.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Valaris

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Valaris by 1.0% in the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in Valaris by 3.0% in the first quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 7,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Valaris by 1.2% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Valaris by 180.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. increased its stake in Valaris by 1.9% in the second quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 12,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

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.