NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.3077.

Several analysts have commented on NOV shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of NOV from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on NOV from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $21.00 price objective on NOV in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on NOV from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th.

NOV Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NOV stock opened at $21.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.19 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.82. NOV has a twelve month low of $12.28 and a twelve month high of $21.86.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. NOV had a net margin of 1.10% and a return on equity of 3.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. Research analysts forecast that NOV will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is presently 138.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Harrison sold 9,594 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.21, for a total value of $184,300.74. Following the sale, the director directly owned 126,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,435,117.23. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in NOV during the second quarter worth about $1,281,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of NOV by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 422,834 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,954,000 after purchasing an additional 71,754 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NOV by 203.9% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 85,897 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 57,634 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NOV during the 2nd quarter worth about $697,976,000. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new stake in NOV during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,344,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

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.