Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock Bumped Down to Strong Sell by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Noble (NYSE:NE) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on NE. Citigroup increased their price objective on Noble from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Noble from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Noble Financial assumed coverage on shares of Noble in a report on Thursday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Fearnley Fonds upgraded Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Noble from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.57.

Noble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NE opened at $41.17 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $44.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.76 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Noble has a 1-year low of $27.67 and a 1-year high of $54.98.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The company reported ($0.57) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.80). Noble had a net margin of 1.79% and a negative return on equity of 0.76%. The business had revenue of $728.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.82 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.13) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Noble will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 25th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 25th. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 606.06%.

Institutional Trading of Noble

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in Noble during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,099,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Noble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,481,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Noble by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 13,957,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,602,000 after acquiring an additional 395,316 shares during the last quarter. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Noble during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,252,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Noble by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 761,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,772,000 after acquiring an additional 14,231 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Noble Company Profile

Noble Corporation plc, operating as Noble (NYSE: NE), provides contract drilling services to the offshore oil and gas industry. The company owns and operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units, including drillships, semisubmersible rigs and jackup rigs, and provides related services to energy companies exploring for and producing oil and natural gas. Noble serves customers in offshore markets around the world. Its operations support drilling in a range of water depths and environments, from shallow-water projects to deepwater and ultra-deepwater developments.