Valaris’ (VAL) Equal Weight Rating Reiterated at Barclays

Barclays reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Valaris (NYSE:VAL) in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $49.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $59.00.

VAL has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup downgraded Valaris from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Benchmark downgraded Valaris from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Valaris in a report on Friday, December 6th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna cut 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valaris presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.33.

Valaris Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of VAL stock opened at $41.22 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Valaris has a one year low of $40.41 and a one year high of $84.20. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $47.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valaris news, SVP Matthew Lyne sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.77, for a total transaction of $1,450,020.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 24,388 shares in the company, valued at $1,360,118.76. This represents a 51.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valaris

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VAL. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Valaris during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,884,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Valaris by 23.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,188,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,573,000 after buying an additional 225,283 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Valaris by 338.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 236,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,426,000 after buying an additional 182,467 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Valaris in the second quarter worth approximately $13,306,000. Finally, Herr Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valaris by 123.3% during the 2nd quarter. Herr Investment Group LLC now owns 235,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,569,000 after acquiring an additional 130,236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

Valaris Company 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.