Valaris (NYSE:VAL) Sets New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $35.11 and last traded at $35.33, with a volume of 149317 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VAL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Valaris from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI downgraded Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Valaris in a research note on Friday, December 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Valaris from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.00.

Valaris Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.70 and a 200-day moving average of $49.17. 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 has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 1.10.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.01 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Valaris

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Valaris by 55.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,300,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,771,000 after purchasing an additional 821,304 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Valaris during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,949,000. Condire Management LP increased its stake in Valaris by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Condire Management LP now owns 2,618,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,850,000 after acquiring an additional 665,718 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valaris during the 4th quarter worth approximately $21,747,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valaris by 942.1% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 381,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,502,000 after acquiring an additional 344,857 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

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.