Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Sells 6,646 Shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. decreased its position in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL - Free Report) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,826 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,646 shares during the quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Valaris were worth $1,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Valaris by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 45,231 shares of the company's stock worth $2,001,000 after buying an additional 13,840 shares during the period. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Valaris by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. now owns 54,729 shares of the company's stock worth $2,421,000 after acquiring an additional 11,278 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Valaris by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,758 shares of the company's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Valaris by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 82,710 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,659,000 after purchasing an additional 13,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new position in shares of Valaris during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.74% of the company's stock.

Valaris Stock Performance

Shares of Valaris stock traded down $2.76 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.80. 2,742,356 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,609,875. Valaris Limited has a 1 year low of $39.90 and a 1 year high of $84.20. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 1.10. 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 (NYSE:VAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 17.67%. The firm had revenue of $584.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.01 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Valaris Limited will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.