Park Avenue Securities LLC Buys New Position in Noble Corporation PLC $NE

Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 17,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $747,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Noble during the second quarter worth approximately $1,481,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Noble by 2.9% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 13,957,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $520,602,000 after acquiring an additional 395,316 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of Noble in the third quarter worth $1,099,000. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Noble in the third quarter worth $1,252,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Noble by 4.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,428,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,483,000 after acquiring an additional 215,799 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Noble from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Noble Financial began coverage on shares of Noble in a report on Thursday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Noble from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Noble from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.57.

Noble Stock Down 6.6%

NE opened at $41.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76. Noble Corporation PLC has a 1 year low of $27.67 and a 1 year high of $54.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.57.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The company reported ($0.57) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.80). The firm had revenue of $728.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.82 million. Noble had a net margin of 1.79% and a negative return on equity of 0.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.13) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 25th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 25th. Noble’s payout ratio is 606.06%.

About Noble

Noble Corporation plc (NYSE: NE) is an offshore drilling contractor that provides drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The company operates a fleet of offshore drilling units, including drillships, semisubmersible rigs and jackup rigs, which are used to explore for and develop oil and natural gas reserves beneath the seabed.

Noble’s services include contract drilling, well planning, project management and other related support services. Its drilling units are designed to operate in a range of offshore environments, including deepwater and harsh-environment locations.