Natixis Makes New Investment in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Natixis purchased a new position in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in Valaris in the fourth quarter worth approximately $101,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Valaris by 88.3% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Valaris in the first quarter worth $149,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Valaris by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smith Anglin Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Valaris by 5.4% during the first quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 3,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

Valaris Stock Performance

Valaris stock traded up $1.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $81.04. 131,598 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 923,432. Valaris Limited has a fifty-two week low of $60.06 and a fifty-two week high of $81.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $525.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $503.00 million. Valaris had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 3.81%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Valaris Limited will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VAL. Pickering Energy Partners downgraded shares of Valaris from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Valaris in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Valaris from $102.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.20.

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.