Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Noble (NYSE:NE) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Noble from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Noble from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds downgraded Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.38.

Noble Stock Performance

Shares of NE stock opened at $54.01 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $49.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.55. Noble has a 12 month low of $22.37 and a 12 month high of $54.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.77 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $785.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Noble will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Noble

In other news, CFO Richard B. Barker sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total transaction of $6,994,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 164,781 shares in the company, valued at $7,683,738.03. This trade represents a 47.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Alting sold 15,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.75, for a total value of $809,185.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,967.50. This trade represents a 65.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 343,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,366,436 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Noble in the first quarter worth approximately $142,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Noble by 819.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Noble in the second quarter worth approximately $359,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in Noble by 663.5% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 36,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 31,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in Noble in the third quarter worth approximately $343,000. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.