Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $44.7143.

NE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a report on Friday, July 24th. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Noble from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research cut Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Noble from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st.

Noble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NE opened at $45.60 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a PE ratio of 49.03 and a beta of 0.92. Noble has a 1-year low of $26.69 and a 1-year high of $54.98.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 1.93% and a net margin of 4.88%.The firm had revenue of $719.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $697.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Noble will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. Noble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.05%.

Insider Activity at Noble

In other Noble news, CEO Robert Eifler sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.51, for a total value of $2,275,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,193,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,331,112.28. The trade was a 4.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Noble

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Noble by 44.4% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Noble by 819.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Noble by 43.7% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Noble in the 1st quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Noble during the 1st quarter valued at $142,000. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.