Noble (NYSE:NE) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Noble (NYSE:NE) announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.14), Zacks reports. Noble had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 2.32%.

Noble Price Performance

Shares of Noble stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Monday, hitting $43.09. 2,053,480 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,807,790. The stock has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Noble has a 52 week low of $25.24 and a 52 week high of $54.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $43.85 and its 200-day moving average is $43.99.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Noble news, SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.85, for a total transaction of $1,994,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 40,071 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,539.35. This trade represents a 49.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles M. Sledge sold 724 shares of Noble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.61, for a total transaction of $37,365.64. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,360 shares in the company, valued at $70,189.60. This trade represents a 34.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 143,550 shares of company stock worth $6,985,436 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Noble by 819.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Noble during the first quarter valued at about $142,000. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Noble during the second quarter valued at about $359,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new position in shares of Noble during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,109,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Noble during the third quarter valued at about $3,935,000. Institutional investors own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Noble from $56.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore set a $59.00 price objective on Noble in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research cut Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered Noble from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Noble from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Noble presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.12.

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.