Short Interest in NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) Rises By 24.4%

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 23,357,131 shares, a growth of 24.4% from the February 26th total of 18,771,604 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,716,882 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 6.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on NOV shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on NOV from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on NOV from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a research note on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of NOV in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NOV has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.57.

NOV Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE NOV traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.75. 1,548,011 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,960,875. The company’s fifty day moving average is $19.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.42. NOV has a fifty-two week low of $10.84 and a fifty-two week high of $20.85. The stock has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a PE ratio of 49.34 and a beta of 0.89.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.23). NOV had a return on equity of 3.57% and a net margin of 1.66%.The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that NOV will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NOV Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from NOV’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. NOV’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Craig L. Weinstock sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.08, for a total value of $1,405,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 256,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,146,885.52. This represents a 21.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Joseph W. Rovig sold 151,086 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.17, for a total transaction of $3,047,404.62. Following the sale, the insider owned 269,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,439,727.98. This represents a 35.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NOV

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NOV. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in NOV during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of NOV in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in NOV by 659.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,978 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its stake in NOV by 50.1% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,337 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of NOV by 37.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,578 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NOV

National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) is a leading provider of equipment and technology to the oil and gas industry. The company designs, manufactures and services an extensive portfolio of products used in drilling, completion and production operations. Its offerings include drilling rigs and related components, wellbore technologies such as tubulars and completion tools, surface equipment including mud pumps and blowout preventers, and aftermarket parts and services that support ongoing field operations.

NOV’s business is organized to serve upstream energy companies around the world.