Valaris (NYSE:VAL) Price Target Cut to $55.00 by Analysts at Susquehanna

Valaris (NYSE:VAL - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Susquehanna from $61.00 to $55.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Susquehanna's target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.54% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VAL. Barclays lowered their target price on Valaris from $91.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Pickering Energy Partners cut Valaris from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Valaris from $95.00 to $71.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Benchmark cut Valaris from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $80.33.

Valaris Price Performance

Valaris stock traded down $2.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $48.44. 1,702,926 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,045,750. Valaris has a 12 month low of $48.04 and a 12 month high of $84.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.15.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $1.07. Valaris had a return on equity of 13.75% and a net margin of 47.52%. The company had revenue of $610.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $545.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Valaris will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total value of $1,705,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 108,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,160,326.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total value of $1,705,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 108,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,160,326.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Davor Vukadin sold 15,403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.64, for a total value of $872,425.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at $755,237.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 71,403 shares of company stock worth $4,028,246. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Valaris

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VAL. Lingotto Investment Management LLP increased its position in Valaris by 1.2% in the second quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 3,040,610 shares of the company's stock worth $226,525,000 after buying an additional 36,870 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Valaris by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,893,667 shares of the company's stock worth $129,849,000 after buying an additional 77,490 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Valaris by 5.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,882,846 shares of the company's stock worth $140,272,000 after buying an additional 105,330 shares during the last quarter. Condire Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 14.7% in the first quarter. Condire Management LP now owns 1,452,097 shares of the company's stock worth $109,285,000 after acquiring an additional 186,076 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 23.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,188,973 shares of the company's stock worth $88,573,000 after acquiring an additional 225,283 shares during the period. 96.74% of the stock is 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.