Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Shares in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $875,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VAL. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Valaris by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,446,006 shares of the company's stock worth $136,365,000 after purchasing an additional 112,216 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Valaris by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 581,106 shares of the company's stock worth $25,708,000 after purchasing an additional 99,297 shares during the period. Lingotto Investment Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Valaris by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 3,637,207 shares of the company's stock worth $160,910,000 after buying an additional 87,420 shares during the last quarter. Hosking Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 341,842 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,123,000 after buying an additional 85,891 shares during the period. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Valaris by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 756,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,451,000 after buying an additional 85,250 shares during the last quarter. 96.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valaris Price Performance

VAL stock traded up $4.37 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.31. The company had a trading volume of 3,735,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,428,842. The business has a 50 day moving average of $39.38 and a 200 day moving average of $45.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.06. 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 fifty-two week low of $27.20 and a fifty-two week high of $84.20.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.01 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VAL. Evercore ISI downgraded Valaris from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. 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, February 21st. Barclays cut their target price on Valaris from $46.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valaris to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.50.

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.