Noble (NYSE:NE) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Noble (NYSE:NE) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on NE. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Noble from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Noble from $55.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Evercore set a $59.00 price objective on Noble in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on Noble from $56.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Noble from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.12.

Noble Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NE stock opened at $43.21 on Wednesday. Noble has a 12 month low of $25.24 and a 12 month high of $54.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $44.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.89. The company has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.22 and a beta of 0.92.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $785.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.47 million. Noble had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 2.32%. Noble’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Noble will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Noble news, SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 40,000 shares of Noble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.85, for a total transaction of $1,994,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 40,071 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,539.35. The trade was a 49.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Blake Denton sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.31, for a total transaction of $1,479,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at $1,475,700.37. This trade represents a 50.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 143,550 shares of company stock valued at $6,985,436 in the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NE. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Noble by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC bought a new stake in Noble in the first quarter valued at about $308,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Noble by 20.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Noble by 43.7% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Noble during the first quarter worth about $218,000. 68.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.