Valaris (NYSE:VAL) Now Covered by Susquehanna

Stock analysts at Susquehanna began coverage on shares of Valaris (NYSE:VAL) in a report released on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 11.81% from the company’s current price.

VAL has been the subject of several other research reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Valaris in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Pickering Energy Partners downgraded Valaris from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Valaris from $95.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Valaris from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.50.

Valaris Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:VAL opened at $55.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50 day moving average is $65.15 and its 200 day moving average is $69.86. Valaris has a 12-month low of $53.06 and a 12-month high of $84.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $1.07. The firm had revenue of $610.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $545.00 million. Valaris had a net margin of 49.33% and a return on equity of 12.58%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Valaris will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 108,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,160,326.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Davor Vukadin sold 15,403 shares of Valaris stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.64, for a total value of $872,425.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $755,237.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were 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. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valaris

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VAL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Valaris by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 870,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,662,000 after purchasing an additional 135,753 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Valaris in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,571,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Valaris during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,282,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Valaris by 88.3% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. Finally, Cloverfields Capital Group LP lifted its stake in Valaris by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Cloverfields Capital Group LP now owns 34,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,358,000 after purchasing an additional 2,389 shares in the last quarter. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.