Noble (NYSE:NE) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $50.99 and last traded at $50.0470, with a volume of 71917 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NE. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Noble from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. BTIG Research raised their target price on Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research raised Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 price target on shares of Noble in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Noble presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.63.

Noble Trading Up 0.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.38 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.52.

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

Noble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Noble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles M. Sledge sold 2,083 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.63, for a total transaction of $92,964.29. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,008.92. This trade represents a 49.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard B. Barker sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total transaction of $6,994,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 164,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,683,738.03. This represents a 47.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 328,805 shares of company stock valued at $15,067,754 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Noble by 156.4% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Noble in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Noble by 77.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Noble by 819.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Noble during the 1st quarter worth about $142,000. 68.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Noble Company Profile

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.