South Dakota Investment Council Sells 35,656 Shares of Valaris Limited $VAL

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its stake in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 75.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,719 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,656 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Valaris were worth $1,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VAL. Amundi purchased a new position in Valaris during the first quarter valued at $787,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Valaris by 23.1% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 74,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,273,000 after buying an additional 13,897 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in Valaris by 7.1% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 13,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,332,000 after buying an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Valaris in the first quarter worth about $57,249,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Valaris in the first quarter worth about $1,961,000. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VAL. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Valaris from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Valaris from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Valaris has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $60.31.

Valaris Price Performance

VAL stock opened at $79.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.55. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $81.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.27. Valaris Limited has a one year low of $43.53 and a one year high of $114.12. The company has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a PE ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.93.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $465.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $443.75 million. Valaris had a net margin of 45.37% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The business’s revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.53) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Valaris Limited will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valaris Company Profile

Valaris PLC is a leading provider of offshore drilling services to the global energy industry. The company operates a diverse fleet of mobile offshore drilling units, including drillships, semisubmersibles and jackup rigs, designed to support exploration and production activities in deepwater, ultra-deepwater and harsh‐environment settings. Valaris serves a wide range of international oil and gas customers, offering turnkey drilling solutions, project management and advanced technology integration to enhance operational efficiency and safety.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Valaris maintains a significant presence in key offshore basins around the world.