Noble (NYSE:NE) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.14 EPS

Noble (NYSE:NE) released its earnings results on Monday. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.14), Zacks reports. Noble had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 7.17%.

Noble Stock Performance

NYSE:NE traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $43.09. The company had a trading volume of 2,050,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,803,329. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99. Noble has a 1-year low of $25.24 and a 1-year high of $54.98. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $43.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.99. The firm has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13 and a beta of 0.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Noble

In other news, SVP Blake Denton sold 30,000 shares of Noble stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.31, for a total transaction of $1,479,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 29,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,475,700.37. The trade was a 50.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were 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 owned 1,193,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,331,112.28. This represents a 4.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 143,550 shares of company stock worth $6,985,436. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury purchased a new stake in shares of Noble during the 4th quarter worth about $1,109,000. Sagefield Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Noble by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 182,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,164,000 after purchasing an additional 52,261 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Noble by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 911,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,740,000 after purchasing an additional 24,725 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Noble in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,935,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Noble in the 2nd quarter worth about $359,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NE has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Noble from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Noble from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Noble from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Noble from $56.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.12.

Noble Company Profile

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.