NOV (NYSE:NOV) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $19.67 and last traded at $19.7220, with a volume of 202117 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on NOV shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of NOV in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of NOV in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of NOV from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of NOV in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore set a $19.00 price target on shares of NOV in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.36.

NOV Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.04. The company has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.01 and a beta of 0.93.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.23). NOV had a net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 3.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christian S. Kendall purchased 70,000 shares of NOV stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $14.46 per share, for a total transaction of $1,012,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 85,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,242,822.54. This trade represents a 438.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in NOV in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in NOV by 659.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,978 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in NOV by 50.1% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,337 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of NOV by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,578 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of NOV during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 93.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NOV Company Profile

National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) is a leading provider of equipment and technology to the oil and gas industry. The company designs, manufactures and services an extensive portfolio of products used in drilling, completion and production operations. Its offerings include drilling rigs and related components, wellbore technologies such as tubulars and completion tools, surface equipment including mud pumps and blowout preventers, and aftermarket parts and services that support ongoing field operations.

NOV’s business is organized to serve upstream energy companies around the world.