Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) Receives $44.38 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.3750.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays raised shares of Noble from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Evercore set a $59.00 target price on Noble in a research report on Monday, April 27th.

Noble News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Noble this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded Noble Corporation PLC (NE) from “equal weight” to “overweight” and lifted its price target to $56 from $50, signaling increased confidence in the company’s upside potential. Barclays upgrades Noble (NE)
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholders backed Noble’s board and governance framework, which may reduce uncertainty around corporate oversight and support management stability. Noble Corporation Shareholders Back Board, Governance Framework
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also reported that a special shareholder meeting approved an arrangement and reduction of stated capital, alongside agreements with marketing consultants; this is more of a corporate action update than a direct operating driver. Noble Announces Results of the Special Meeting of Shareholders and Agreements with Marketing Consultants
• Neutral Sentiment: Two senior vice presidents sold shares this week, which may weigh on sentiment slightly, but insider sales do not necessarily indicate a change in business fundamentals. Noble (NYSE:NE) SVP Sells $1,479,300.00 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: SVP Blake Denton sold 30,000 shares, and SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 40,000 shares, adding a modest headwind to investor sentiment as the stock trades near its recent highs. Noble (NYSE:NE) SVP Sells $1,479,300.00 in Stock

Noble Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of NE stock opened at $50.35 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average of $48.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.09. Noble has a 1-year low of $22.37 and a 1-year high of $54.57.

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

Noble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. Noble’s payout ratio is currently 139.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Noble news, SVP Caroline Alting sold 15,340 shares of Noble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.75, for a total value of $809,185.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,967.50. The trade was a 65.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 100,000 shares of Noble stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total value of $4,662,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,243,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,987,261.36. This represents a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 416,631 shares of company stock worth $19,477,224 over the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NE. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Noble by 424.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 440,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,435,000 after acquiring an additional 356,333 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in Noble in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,902,000. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Noble in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,935,000. Hosking Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Noble by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,140,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,203,000 after buying an additional 103,477 shares during the period. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP boosted 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 buying an additional 52,261 shares during the period. 68.14% of the stock is 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.