Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.1250.

Several brokerages have issued reports on NE. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Noble from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Noble from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Noble from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Noble from $56.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th.

Noble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NE opened at $43.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $43.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 30.28 and a beta of 0.92. Noble has a 1 year low of $25.24 and a 1 year high of $54.98.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $785.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.47 million. Noble had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 7.17%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Noble will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Noble

In related news, SVP Blake Denton sold 30,000 shares of Noble stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.31, for a total transaction of $1,479,300.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,475,700.37. This trade represents a 50.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Alting sold 15,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.75, for a total value of $809,185.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,170 shares in the company, valued at $430,967.50. This trade represents a 65.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 143,550 shares of company stock worth $6,985,436. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hosking Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Noble by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,140,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,203,000 after buying an additional 103,477 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Noble by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 911,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,740,000 after buying an additional 24,725 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Noble by 424.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 440,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,435,000 after buying an additional 356,333 shares during the period. Sagefield Capital LP lifted its holdings in Noble by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 182,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,164,000 after acquiring an additional 52,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in Noble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,902,000. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Noble Company Profile

Noble (NYSE: NE) is an offshore drilling company that provides drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The firm operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units and delivers contract drilling solutions for exploration and production activities. Its core business centers on executing drilling programs for upstream energy companies across a range of water depths and operating environments.

Products and services include the operation and management of offshore drilling rigs — such as drillships, semisubmersibles and jackups — along with associated technical, engineering and project management services.