Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) Short Interest Down 13.3% in February

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) saw a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 10,583,996 shares, a decrease of 13.3% from the February 12th total of 12,214,502 shares. Currently, 6.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,344,211 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days. Based on an average trading volume of 2,344,211 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days. Currently, 6.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jennie Howard sold 6,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $255,948.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 18,162 shares in the company, valued at $762,804. This trade represents a 25.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Blake Denton sold 23,255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $1,011,592.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 79,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,447,853.50. This represents a 22.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 78,805 shares of company stock valued at $3,411,254 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Noble by 156.4% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Noble in the third quarter worth about $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Noble by 77.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Noble by 819.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 2,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Noble during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $142,000. Institutional investors own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Noble Price Performance

Shares of NE stock traded down $0.05 on Wednesday, hitting $47.59. 1,453,446 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,203,110. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Noble has a 52 week low of $17.40 and a 52 week high of $48.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.17. The firm has a market cap of $7.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.25 and a beta of 1.07.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $764.41 million for the quarter. Noble had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 2.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Noble will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NE shares. Evercore set a $45.00 target price on shares of Noble in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Noble Financial lowered shares of Noble to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a research note on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 price target on Noble in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.63.

About Noble

Noble (NYSE: NE) is an offshore drilling company that provides drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The firm operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units and delivers contract drilling solutions for exploration and production activities. Its core business centers on executing drilling programs for upstream energy companies across a range of water depths and operating environments.

Products and services include the operation and management of offshore drilling rigs — such as drillships, semisubmersibles and jackups — along with associated technical, engineering and project management services.