NOV (NYSE:NOV) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $21.13 and last traded at $21.0250, with a volume of 624383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NOV. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on NOV from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on NOV from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on NOV from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised NOV from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NOV presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.36.

NOV Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of 87.65 and a beta of 0.92.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.12). NOV had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 1.05%.The business had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NOV Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

NOV Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This is a positive change from NOV’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is 150.00%.

Insider Activity at NOV

In other NOV news, insider Joseph W. Rovig sold 151,086 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.17, for a total value of $3,047,404.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 269,694 shares in the company, valued at $5,439,727.98. The trade was a 35.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Craig L. Weinstock sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.08, for a total transaction of $1,405,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 256,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,146,885.52. This trade represents a 21.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of NOV by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,404,319 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $364,987,000 after acquiring an additional 431,684 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NOV by 43.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,596,504 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $100,654,000 after acquiring an additional 2,304,975 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in NOV by 2.3% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,192,735 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $135,295,000 after acquiring an additional 158,788 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of NOV by 15.4% during the third quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,747,682 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $76,157,000 after purchasing an additional 765,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of NOV by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,346,302 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $70,839,000 after purchasing an additional 689,427 shares during the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NOV

National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) is a leading provider of equipment and technology to the oil and gas industry. The company designs, manufactures and services an extensive portfolio of products used in drilling, completion and production operations. Its offerings include drilling rigs and related components, wellbore technologies such as tubulars and completion tools, surface equipment including mud pumps and blowout preventers, and aftermarket parts and services that support ongoing field operations.

NOV’s business is organized to serve upstream energy companies around the world.