Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Acquires 28,700 Shares of Noble Corporation PLC $NE

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund acquired a new position in Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 28,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,198,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NE. McAlvany Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Noble in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,756,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Noble during the third quarter worth about $68,000. Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Noble during the third quarter worth about $505,000. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Noble during the third quarter worth about $736,000. Finally, Choreo LLC bought a new position in Noble in the third quarter worth about $238,000. Institutional investors own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Noble Stock Performance

Shares of NE opened at $40.98 on Monday. Noble Corporation PLC has a one year low of $27.67 and a one year high of $54.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.17 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $44.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.64.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The company reported ($0.57) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.80). The company had revenue of $728.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $713.82 million. Noble had a negative return on equity of 0.76% and a net margin of 1.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 25th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 25th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 606.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NE shares. Noble Financial assumed coverage on shares of Noble in a report on Thursday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered Noble from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut Noble from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Barclays cut 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. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Noble from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.57.

About Noble

Noble Corporation plc, operating as Noble (NYSE: NE), provides contract drilling services to the offshore oil and gas industry. The company owns and operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units, including drillships, semisubmersible rigs and jackup rigs, and provides related services to energy companies exploring for and producing oil and natural gas.

Noble serves customers in offshore markets around the world. Its operations support drilling in a range of water depths and environments, from shallow-water projects to deepwater and ultra-deepwater developments.

The company traces its history to Noble Drilling, founded in 1921.