Valaris (NYSE:VAL) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $52.25, but opened at $50.16. Valaris shares last traded at $50.16, with a volume of 173,141 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark cut Valaris from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Pickering Energy Partners lowered Valaris from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Valaris from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Valaris from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Valaris from $95.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Valaris Trading Up 0.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.15. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.68.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $1.07. The business had revenue of $610.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $545.00 million. Valaris had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 49.33%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Valaris Limited will post 4.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Davor Vukadin sold 15,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.64, for a total value of $872,425.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,237.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Valaris news, SVP Davor Vukadin sold 15,403 shares of Valaris stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.64, for a total value of $872,425.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $755,237.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of Valaris stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total value of $1,705,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 108,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,160,326.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,403 shares of company stock worth $4,028,246 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Valaris

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Valaris by 180.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Valaris in the 1st quarter valued at $149,000. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in Valaris in the 2nd quarter valued at $204,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Valaris in the 2nd quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in Valaris in the 2nd quarter valued at $211,000. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valaris Company Profile

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.