Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Barclays

Noble (NYSE:NE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $56.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $50.00. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 11.21% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna raised their price target on Noble from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Fearnley Fonds cut Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings cut Noble from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore set a $59.00 price target on Noble in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Noble from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Noble currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.38.

Noble Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of NE opened at $50.35 on Thursday. Noble has a 1 year low of $22.37 and a 1 year high of $54.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.09. The stock has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21 and a beta of 0.94.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. Noble had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 7.17%.The business had revenue of $785.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. Noble’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Noble will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Noble

In other Noble news, SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.85, for a total value of $1,994,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 40,071 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,539.35. This trade represents a 49.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total value of $4,662,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,243,828 shares in the company, valued at $57,987,261.36. The trade was a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 416,631 shares of company stock worth $19,477,224. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Noble by 424.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 440,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,435,000 after buying an additional 356,333 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in Noble in the 4th quarter valued at $4,902,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Noble in the 1st quarter valued at $218,000. De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new position in Noble in the 4th quarter valued at $824,000. Finally, Hosking Partners LLP boosted its position in Noble by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,140,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,203,000 after buying an additional 103,477 shares during the last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Noble

Here are the key news stories impacting Noble this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded Noble Corporation PLC (NE) from “equal weight” to “overweight” and lifted its price target to $56 from $50, signaling increased confidence in the company’s upside potential. Barclays upgrades Noble (NE)
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholders backed Noble’s board and governance framework, which may reduce uncertainty around corporate oversight and support management stability. Noble Corporation Shareholders Back Board, Governance Framework
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also reported that a special shareholder meeting approved an arrangement and reduction of stated capital, alongside agreements with marketing consultants; this is more of a corporate action update than a direct operating driver. Noble Announces Results of the Special Meeting of Shareholders and Agreements with Marketing Consultants
• Neutral Sentiment: Two senior vice presidents sold shares this week, which may weigh on sentiment slightly, but insider sales do not necessarily indicate a change in business fundamentals. Noble (NYSE:NE) SVP Sells $1,479,300.00 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: SVP Blake Denton sold 30,000 shares, and SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 40,000 shares, adding a modest headwind to investor sentiment as the stock trades near its recent highs. Noble (NYSE:NE) SVP Sells $1,479,300.00 in Stock

Noble Company Profile

Noble (NYSE: NE) is an offshore drilling company that provides drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The firm operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units and delivers contract drilling solutions for exploration and production activities. Its core business centers on executing drilling programs for upstream energy companies across a range of water depths and operating environments.

Products and services include the operation and management of offshore drilling rigs — such as drillships, semisubmersibles and jackups — along with associated technical, engineering and project management services.