Van ECK Associates Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its stake in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,620,071 shares of the company’s stock after selling 84,286 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Valaris were worth $111,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Valaris by 120.1% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 394 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valaris in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Valaris by 184.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 693 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in Valaris in the 3rd quarter valued at $70,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valaris by 34.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 96.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VAL. StockNews.com raised Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays cut their price target on Valaris from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. TheStreet upgraded Valaris from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Valaris from $107.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Valaris Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VAL traded down $3.42 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $65.66. 442,116 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 859,447. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $69.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.13. Valaris Limited has a 1-year low of $54.13 and a 1-year high of $78.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.32. Valaris had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 48.50%. The company had revenue of $483.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $484.00 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Valaris Limited will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.