Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $875,000 in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 19,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $875,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VAL. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,713 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $6,985,000 after acquiring an additional 2,598 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Valaris by 92.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 26,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 12,725 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Valaris in the 3rd quarter valued at about $930,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Valaris by 202.7% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 7,024 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Valaris Trading Down 14.5 %

Shares of VAL stock opened at $29.49 on Friday. Valaris Limited has a 12 month low of $29.40 and a 12 month high of $84.20. The company has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $41.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.00.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $584.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.01 million. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. Equities analysts predict that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

Valaris Company 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.