Noble (NYSE:NE) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $54.11 and last traded at $53.7940, with a volume of 3227093 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Noble from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Noble in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Noble from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Noble in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $44.38.

Noble Trading Down 1.5%

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $47.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11 and a beta of 1.00.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, April 26th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. Noble had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 2.32%. The company had revenue of $785.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.80 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Noble Corporation PLC will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles M. Sledge sold 2,083 shares of Noble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.63, for a total transaction of $92,964.29. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,084 shares in the company, valued at $93,008.92. This trade represents a 49.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 100,000 shares of Noble stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total transaction of $4,662,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,243,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,987,261.36. This represents a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 328,805 shares of company stock worth $15,067,754 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noble

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

About Noble

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.