Noble (NYSE:NE) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Research

Noble (NYSE:NE) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

NE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Fearnley Fonds cut shares of Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Noble from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Evercore set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Noble in a research report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.38.

Noble Stock Performance

Noble stock opened at $54.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.55. Noble has a 1-year low of $22.37 and a 1-year high of $54.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99. The stock has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.77 and a beta of 0.94.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $785.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.47 million. Noble had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 2.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Noble will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Blake Denton sold 30,000 shares of Noble stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at $1,475,700.37. This trade represents a 50.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Al J. Hirshberg sold 5,000 shares of Noble stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.62, for a total transaction of $263,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 27,803 shares in the company, valued at $1,462,993.86. This represents a 15.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 343,550 shares of company stock worth $16,366,436. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noble

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hosking Partners LLP raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 103,477 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position 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. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in Noble during the 4th quarter worth $4,902,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Noble by 43.7% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Noble during the 1st quarter worth $218,000. 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.