NOV (NYSE:NOV) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $14.58, but opened at $16.18. NOV shares last traded at $15.84, with a volume of 483,865 shares.

The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. NOV had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 12.05%.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NOV shares. Bank of America cut their price target on NOV from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on NOV from $16.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James increased their price objective on NOV from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on NOV from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets lowered NOV from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.47.

Insider Transactions at NOV

In other news, Director David D. Harrison sold 1,784 shares of NOV stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.10, for a total transaction of $28,722.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 110,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,786,311.10. This trade represents a 1.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NOV

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of NOV by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 29,729 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $565,000 after buying an additional 991 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. lifted its position in shares of NOV by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 49,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of NOV by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 11,060 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $177,000 after buying an additional 1,163 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of NOV by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 15,050 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of NOV by 222.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,337 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

NOV Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.57. The firm has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.92 and a 200 day moving average of $16.15.

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.