Retirement Systems of Alabama Boosts Stock Holdings in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 33.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 173,616 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 43,368 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Valaris were worth $11,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Valaris by 120.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valaris in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Valaris by 184.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 693 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in Valaris during the third quarter worth $70,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Valaris by 34.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 96.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VAL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Valaris from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet raised shares of Valaris from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Valaris from $107.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Valaris Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE VAL opened at $64.12 on Thursday. Valaris Limited has a one year low of $54.13 and a one year high of $78.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.92. The firm has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.71.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.32. Valaris had a net margin of 48.50% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The company had revenue of $483.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $484.00 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Valaris Limited will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valaris Company Profile

Valaris Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services Gulf of Mexico, South America, North Sea, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through four segments: Floaters, Jackups, ARO, and Other. It owns an offshore drilling rig fleet, which include drillships, dynamically positioned semisubmersible rigs, moored semisubmersible rig, and jackup rigs.