NOV (NYSE:NOV) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $20.60 and last traded at $20.2590, with a volume of 4515965 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of NOV from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on NOV from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays raised NOV from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NOV currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.36.

NOV Trading Down 0.6%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.31 and a beta of 0.93.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.23). NOV had a net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 3.57%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a boost from NOV’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NOV in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in NOV in the second quarter valued at $35,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in NOV by 659.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,978 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in NOV by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,337 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of NOV by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,578 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

About NOV

National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) is a leading provider of equipment and technology to the oil and gas industry. The company designs, manufactures and services an extensive portfolio of products used in drilling, completion and production operations. Its offerings include drilling rigs and related components, wellbore technologies such as tubulars and completion tools, surface equipment including mud pumps and blowout preventers, and aftermarket parts and services that support ongoing field operations.

NOV’s business is organized to serve upstream energy companies around the world.