Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on NOV (NYSE:NOV)

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 2,616 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,353% compared to the average daily volume of 180 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on NOV. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of NOV in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI raised NOV to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of NOV in a research report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on NOV from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on NOV from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NOV currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.58.

NOV Stock Performance

NYSE NOV opened at $16.85 on Thursday. NOV has a 1-year low of $16.73 and a 1-year high of $21.91. The company has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.77, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.22. NOV had a return on equity of 10.97% and a net margin of 11.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. NOV’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that NOV will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. NOV’s payout ratio is 12.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NOV during the first quarter worth $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NOV during the second quarter worth $28,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of NOV during the first quarter worth $39,000. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NOV during the first quarter worth $78,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of NOV during the second quarter worth $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

About NOV

NOV Inc designs, constructs, manufactures, and sells systems, components, and products for oil and gas drilling and production, and industrial and renewable energy sectors in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Energy Equipment, and Energy Products and Services. The company provides solids control and waste management equipment and services, managed pressure drilling, drilling fluids, premium drillpipe, wired pipe, drilling optimization services, tubular inspection and coating services, instrumentation, downhole tools, and drill bits.