Evercore ISI Downgrades Valaris (NYSE:VAL) to In-Line

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) was downgraded by analysts at Evercore ISI from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $59.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $87.00. Evercore ISI’s price target suggests a potential upside of 21.66% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on VAL. Benchmark downgraded Valaris from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Valaris in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Citigroup downgraded shares of Valaris from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Valaris from $61.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $49.00 price target (down previously from $59.00) on shares of Valaris in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Valaris has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.67.

Valaris Stock Performance

Shares of VAL stock opened at $48.50 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.95. The company has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.10. Valaris has a 52 week low of $39.90 and a 52 week high of $84.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valaris

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VAL. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Valaris in the third quarter valued at approximately $930,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Valaris during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,862,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Valaris by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 137,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,670,000 after buying an additional 17,690 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valaris in the second quarter valued at $3,652,000. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Valaris by 20.4% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 670,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,412,000 after buying an additional 113,509 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

About Valaris

Valaris Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services Gulf of Mexico, South America, North Sea, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through four segments: Floaters, Jackups, ARO, and Other. It owns an offshore drilling rig fleet, which include drillships, dynamically positioned semisubmersible rigs, moored semisubmersible rig, and jackup rigs.