Valueworks LLC Reduces Holdings in Noble Corporation PLC $NE

Valueworks LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) by 10.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,797 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,533 shares during the quarter. Valueworks LLC owned about 0.07% of Noble worth $3,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Noble in the 1st quarter worth approximately $142,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Noble by 819.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Noble in the second quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Noble in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,935,000. Finally, Hosking Partners LLP lifted its position in Noble by 10.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Noble from $55.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on Noble from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Noble from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Noble currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.71.

Insider Transactions at Noble

In related news, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.51, for a total transaction of $2,275,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,193,828 shares in the company, valued at $54,331,112.28. This trade represents a 4.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Noble Stock Performance

NYSE:NE opened at $46.77 on Friday. Noble Corporation PLC has a fifty-two week low of $26.69 and a fifty-two week high of $54.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 1.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.29 and a beta of 0.93.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.14). Noble had a net margin of 4.88% and a return on equity of 1.93%. The firm had revenue of $719.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $697.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Noble’s payout ratio is currently 215.05%.

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.