WINTON GROUP Ltd Acquires 5,630 Shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 28.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 25,103 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,630 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Valaris were worth $1,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VAL. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Valaris by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Valaris during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of Valaris by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 9,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in Valaris by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Valaris by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

Valaris Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE VAL opened at $39.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.67 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.62. Valaris Limited has a twelve month low of $31.15 and a twelve month high of $84.20.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $584.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.01 million. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. Research analysts forecast that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VAL. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Valaris from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Valaris from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $87.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Valaris currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.33.

Valaris Profile

Valaris Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services Gulf of Mexico, South America, North Sea, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through four segments: Floaters, Jackups, ARO, and Other. It owns an offshore drilling rig fleet, which include drillships, dynamically positioned semisubmersible rigs, moored semisubmersible rig, and jackup rigs.