Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Valaris (NYSE:VAL)

Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 5,483 put options on the company. This is an increase of 108% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,642 put options.

Institutional Trading of Valaris

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Valaris in the third quarter worth $25,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Valaris by 518.3% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Valaris by 395.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew 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 worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Valaris by 326.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the company's stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.74% of the company's stock.

Valaris Trading Up 0.5 %

Valaris stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $34.03. The company had a trading volume of 2,200,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,264,798. Valaris has a 1-year low of $31.15 and a 1-year high of $84.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $44.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.06. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 1.10.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.68. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. The firm had revenue of $584.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.01 million. As a group, analysts expect that Valaris will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VAL has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Valaris in a research note on Friday, December 6th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Valaris from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of 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 research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Valaris to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Valaris from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.00.

Valaris Company Profile

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.