Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 23,509 Shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,454,159 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,509 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Valaris worth $285,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Valaris during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Valaris by 395.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Valaris by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Valaris by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Valaris by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. 96.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VAL shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Valaris in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI cut Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on Valaris from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Valaris from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.33.

Valaris Stock Down 14.5 %

Shares of NYSE VAL opened at $29.49 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.00. Valaris Limited has a one year low of $29.40 and a one year high of $84.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $584.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.01 million. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

Valaris Profile

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.