Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.7143.

Several research firms have issued reports on NE. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Noble in a research report on Monday. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Noble from $55.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Fearnley Fonds upgraded Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Noble from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Noble from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Noble

In other news, CEO Robert Eifler sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.51, for a total transaction of $2,275,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,193,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,331,112.28. The trade was a 4.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Noble

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Noble by 2.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 61,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,285,000 after acquiring an additional 1,524 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Noble during the second quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Noble by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 65,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,486 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Noble by 0.7% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Noble in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,481,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Noble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NE opened at $45.26 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.67 and a beta of 0.92. Noble has a 1-year low of $26.69 and a 1-year high of $54.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.14). Noble had a return on equity of 1.93% and a net margin of 4.88%.The company had revenue of $719.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $697.98 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. Noble’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Noble will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Noble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.05%.

Noble Company Profile

Noble Corporation plc (NYSE:NE) is an offshore drilling contractor that provides services to energy companies involved in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates a fleet of offshore drilling units, including drillships, semisubmersible rigs and jackup rigs, and performs drilling activities in deepwater, harsh-environment and other offshore settings.

Noble’s services include contract drilling, rig operations and related offshore support for exploration and production programs.