Valaris (NYSE:VAL) Shares Up 6% – Still a Buy?

Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)’s share price was up 6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $31.66 and last traded at $31.90. Approximately 379,843 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 1,453,001 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VAL. 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 report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Valaris from $46.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Valaris from $47.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI lowered Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valaris presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.33.

Valaris Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $37.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.06. 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 (NYSE:VAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $584.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.01 million. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Valaris

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valaris in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Valaris by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 518.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new stake in shares of Valaris in the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 1,027.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.