Valaris (NYSE:VAL) Price Target Lowered to $35.00 at Barclays

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) had its price target dropped by research analysts at Barclays from $46.00 to $35.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price target points to a potential upside of 14.94% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on VAL. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI lowered Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com raised Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Valaris from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valaris has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.50.

Valaris Price Performance

NYSE:VAL traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $30.45. 1,675,343 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,901,878. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.85. The company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 1.06. Valaris has a 1 year low of $27.73 and a 1 year high of $84.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.68. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. The company had revenue of $584.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.01 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Valaris will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valaris

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VAL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Valaris by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,454,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,532,000 after purchasing an additional 23,509 shares in the last quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in Valaris by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 3,637,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,910,000 after buying an additional 87,420 shares during the last quarter. Condire Management LP raised its stake in Valaris by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Condire Management LP now owns 2,618,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,850,000 after buying an additional 665,718 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Valaris by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,446,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,365,000 after buying an additional 112,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Valaris by 55.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,300,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,771,000 after acquiring an additional 821,304 shares in the last quarter. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.