Norges Bank Takes $31.95 Million Position in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 722,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,949,000. Norges Bank owned 1.02% of Valaris as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Valaris by 12.6% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $856,000 after acquiring an additional 1,713 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Valaris by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 125,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,985,000 after purchasing an additional 2,598 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in Valaris by 92.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 26,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 12,725 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valaris by 202.7% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 7,024 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Valaris during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

Valaris Stock Down 14.5 %

VAL opened at $29.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.92. Valaris Limited has a twelve month low of $29.40 and a twelve month high of $84.20.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.68. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. The firm had revenue of $584.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.01 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VAL shares. StockNews.com upgraded Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Evercore ISI lowered Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their target price for the company from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Valaris from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Valaris from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valaris presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.33.

Valaris Profile

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.