Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) Receives $44.71 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $44.7143.

NE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Noble from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Noble in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Noble from $55.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th.

Noble Price Performance

Noble stock opened at $45.26 on Monday. Noble has a 12 month low of $26.69 and a 12 month high of $54.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.78. The company has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.67 and a beta of 0.92.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $719.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $697.98 million. Noble had a return on equity of 1.93% and a net margin of 4.88%.The firm’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Noble will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Noble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Noble by 44.4% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Noble by 819.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 2,318 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Noble during the second quarter valued at about $118,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Noble by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Noble in the 1st quarter worth approximately $142,000. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Noble Company Profile

Noble Corporation plc (NYSE:NE) is an offshore drilling contractor that provides services to energy companies involved in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates a fleet of offshore drilling units, including drillships, semisubmersible rigs and jackup rigs, and performs drilling activities in deepwater, harsh-environment and other offshore settings.

Noble’s services include contract drilling, rig operations and related offshore support for exploration and production programs.