Valaris (NYSE:VAL) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $34.83, but opened at $35.92. Valaris shares last traded at $36.88, with a volume of 275,197 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VAL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Valaris from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $87.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valaris to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Valaris from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Valaris in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Valaris currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.00.

Valaris Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $44.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.68. Valaris had a return on equity of 17.40% and a net margin of 15.81%. The firm had revenue of $584.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.01 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VAL. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Valaris by 51.7% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Valaris by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Valaris by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 9,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Valaris by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Valaris by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.