Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 511 Shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 41.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,758 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Valaris were worth $78,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in Valaris in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Valaris by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in Valaris by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Valaris in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $244,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Valaris by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the period. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on VAL. Evercore ISI downgraded Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Valaris from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Citigroup increased their target price on Valaris from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $49.00 target price (down from $59.00) on shares of Valaris in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valaris currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.50.

Valaris Stock Down 6.2 %

Shares of VAL opened at $41.80 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.42 and a 200 day moving average of $50.53. Valaris Limited has a 52-week low of $39.90 and a 52-week high of $84.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $584.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.01 million. Valaris had a return on equity of 17.40% and a net margin of 15.81%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

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.