Kestra Investment Management LLC Purchases 6,398 Shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Kestra Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL - Free Report) by 121.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,684 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,398 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC's holdings in Valaris were worth $517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in Valaris by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 45,231 shares of the company's stock worth $2,001,000 after acquiring an additional 13,840 shares in the last quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. now owns 54,729 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,421,000 after buying an additional 11,278 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,758 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 82,710 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,659,000 after buying an additional 13,508 shares during the period. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in shares of Valaris in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VAL. Evercore ISI downgraded Valaris from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Valaris from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Valaris from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised Valaris to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Valaris in a research note on Friday, December 6th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.50.

Valaris Trading Down 6.2 %

NYSE:VAL traded down $2.76 on Friday, reaching $41.80. 2,742,356 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,506,305. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 1.10. The company's 50 day moving average is $45.42 and its 200-day moving average is $50.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Valaris Limited has a 1-year low of $39.90 and a 1-year high of $84.20.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $584.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.01 million. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.