Susquehanna Begins Coverage on Valaris (NYSE:VAL)

Susquehanna started coverage on shares of Valaris (NYSE:VAL) in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock.

VAL has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Valaris from $95.00 to $71.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Valaris from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Pickering Energy Partners lowered shares of Valaris from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Valaris in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valaris currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $86.50.

Valaris Stock Performance

NYSE:VAL opened at $53.77 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.50. Valaris has a twelve month low of $53.06 and a twelve month high of $84.20.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $1.07. Valaris had a net margin of 49.33% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $610.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $545.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Valaris will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total transaction of $1,705,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 108,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,160,326.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Valaris news, SVP Davor Vukadin sold 15,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.64, for a total value of $872,425.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $755,237.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total transaction of $1,705,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 108,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,160,326.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Valaris

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VAL. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Valaris by 180.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Valaris by 88.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Valaris in the 1st quarter worth $149,000. Choreo LLC bought a new position in shares of Valaris during the 2nd quarter worth about $204,000. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Valaris during the 2nd quarter worth about $204,000. 96.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.